On the Rack
by Rainpebbles
Summary: Impala Series Part X: Old enemies emerge from the black and kidnap two of the crew just when things were starting to look up back on the Impala. Now the remaining crew has to find a way to bring their friends home, but will they get them back in one piece? Destiel and Sabriel
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Here we are, and with this chapter we have reached another milestone! 250,000 words! Now the original episode had a lot of fighting, and a lot of arguments that really wouldn't fit in well with my characters, so I had to fix this a bit. Hopefully everything still fits together well! And to offset the more gruesome scenes, I have also added in some brotherly fluff. Hope y'all like!

leahelisabeth: Bringing it now! Hopin' ya like! :D

ship. me: Yay! I made a new word! I feel so accomplished XD

makoto04: Oh luvy, I know how evil I am, and I enjoy every second of it! But I'm really happy to know that my evilness is well received. XD

Disclaimer: Who owns nothing? *This girl!*

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CHAPTER 1

The last week had been…wonderful. There was no other way to describe it. It was like a the fog that had descended on the ship had finally lifted and everyone danced out to play in the sunshine for a bit.

Everyone was in a happy mood, well, in Meg's case it was more of a no longer scowling at everyone and everything mood. They had all been given the biggest pay day that any one of them had received in their lives and they all basked in the wonder that was non-bankruptcy. Most of them spent their off hours thinking of the many ways to squander their small fortune.

Not even caring about their own take of the cash, the Novaks were in the midst of their first mental break since they had first come aboard this ship, and they were beyond content to simply relax for the brief respite. Like a magic potion, Cas came alive with the addition of the drugs to his daily routine. With the pain gone, he seemed to break through some of the fog that had kept him so lost and even more often Dean felt like he was getting to know the old Cas, the pre-Host Cas.

The three brothers were now like children again, they would laugh and dash through the corridors, or toss food at one another during the evening meals, or playfully jump upon each other's backs in bouts of horseplay. Their happy mood had spread like sparkling wildfire and even Dean and Sam had gotten caught up in their enthusiasm and had started up one of their old prank wars that only stopped when some itching powder had found its way onto one of Bobby's white collars. Dean never knew the preacher's face could turn that red.

And while Sam and Gabriel spent a remarkable, yet in Dean's case hopefully forgettable amount of time in their room, Dean and Cas were spending more time in Cas' room. This sparked an almost domestic streak in the Captain, inspiring to try his hand at cooking a few surprisingly successful dinners for the crew a few times. "Nesting" Dean had called it when Sam had inquired about his brother's change of attitude.

Nesting indeed.

This was all not to say that Cas had made a spectacular recovery and was as sane as the rest of them, but he hadn't gone around making any more blood finger paintings on the walls. There was still that small fact that Cas was still riding the short yellow bus, he just was no longer the one licking the windows. This is what kept Dean and Cas to kisses and nothing more. As happy as Dean was to see the astounding change, he still held some small reserve of concern with the knowledge that if the drugs were taken away, it would all go back to how it was. Cas was not cured, this was a temporary assistance.

These thoughts followed Dean as Bobby and Gabriel summoned him to the infirmary.

"So what is it that you wanted to show me?" Dean asked the two. Gabriel and Bobby exchanged glances. For the last week, whenever they were both off duty, they had been pouring over the data collected from the 3-D imager, analyzing every last discrepancy that the machine had detected.

Bobby had learned more about the Host from these images and from what Gabriel had mentioned offhanded while they went over the scans than he had ever wanted or dreaded to know. The pilot and he had both braced themselves for the last week, dreading this moment when they would finally have to break the happy respite of the ship with news of their findings, but it couldn't be helped. Dean had to know what they had found.

The preacher sighed heavily, "We went through the scans and just wanted to give you a full report. That's why we waited to share anything before we had finished."

Dean steeled himself, ready to lose the momentary bliss that he had found. He knew it wouldn't last, "Okay. Hit me with it."

"Let's start with the brain scans," and Gabriel pulled up the first image on the screen in the infirmary. It showed a very detailed picture of Cas' cranium, enough that to Dean it looked like a real picture of one as opposed to some generalized diagram.

"If you look closely here…and here…._sigh, _and here, you can see some old scars from a scalpel," Gabriel said in a dead voice, pointing to different marks in the photo. Dean could just about make out the small and thin white lines of the scars.

"The only reason I knew of to make an incision in someone's brain is to…lobotomize them. To go in and remove damaged tissue, but…why anyone would cut into a healthy brain is…,"Bobby sighed heavily and swiped a hand over his face.

Gabriel's voiced cracked as he spoke again, "They did it over and over…. I had heard rumors about the Host starting in on more…intimate experiments. It was part of the reason I took off as fast as I did. I just…I had just held out hope that maybe Cas' condition had nothing to do with that. False and foolish hope, I guess."

Dean steadied the pilot with a gripping hand on his shoulder.

Breaking the tragic silence, Bobby cleared his throat and zoomed in on an interior image to the brain, "We also found upon closer examination that they stripped his amygdala."

Blankly Dean stared back, "His what?"

"You know how you get scared or worried or nervous, but you don't want to be scared of worried or nervous, so you push it to the back of your mind? You try not to think about it. The amygdale is what lets you do that. It's like a filter in your brain that keeps your feelings in check," Bobby finished, trying to sound impassive about it instead of the raw rage he felt at thinking about what this meant for Cas.

"So he feels everything. He can't not feel everything," Gabriel summarized bitterly.

A horrible hollowness filled Dean with the new knowledge. No wonder Cas had his "moments". Hell, if Dean had to deal with feeling his own feelings at all times, with everyone else's piled on top of that, surely his mind would have already collapsed from the strain. No matter what anyone said, Cas was not weak. He was damn strong to have held it together as well as he had. He didn't think it possible, but his hate for the Host doubled in intensity.

"Did you ever read the works of Shan Yu?" Bobby asked suddenly, startling Dean from his dark thoughts.

Sam chose that moment to walk into the room, and move to stand beside his brother,"You mean the psychotic dictator?" Of course the super nerd would know what Bobby was talking about.

Bobby nodded, "Yup. That's the one. Fancied himself quite the warrior-poet. Wrote volmes on war, torture…the limits of human endurance…."

Dean's whole body tensed as Bobby spoke. The Captain knew who Bobby was talking about all along as many a man he had "interrogated" during the war had compared Dean to. It was a bit of a sore spot, one might say, "A poet, you say? How nice," he commented mildly.

The preacher continued as if Dean hadn't said anything, "He said, "Live with a man forty years. Share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcanoe's edge, and on that day, you will finally meet the man."

"And what if you don't live near a volcano?" grunted Gabriel, his eyes still on the image on the screen in front of him.

Bobby glanced back, "As I said…probably being poetical."

Dean snorted, "Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose, gotcha. So why do you bring him up? Don't tell me you're a fan?"

He paused a moment to glance once again at the brain scan on the monitor before replying, "I'm just wondering if they were fans…the people who did this to Cas."

"Didn't the government do this to Cas?" Sam commented, thinking on who ran and sponsored the Host.

"The government is a body of people, boy. Usually notably ungoverned," Bobby sighed.

It was Sam's turn to snort, "Now you're just starting to sound like Dean."

Bobby ignored him, "My point is, I was wondering if they put Cas through all this just to see how much he could take. To truly "meet him" as Shan Yu would have said.

"No. The Host would not waste so much time with simple philosophical endeavors. Their purpose in all this was very specific," Gabriel murmured darkly from where he still stared at the screen.

Bobby took a closer look, "Well, that might explain the pattern that I noticed earlier. Can't explain what that pattern means, but might just be beyond my simple knowledge. I'll be doing some more research on it all next time we break planet side. Pick up some books on neurology."

But these simplified guesses were not at all satisfying to Dean, "Damn straight they had a purpose. If all they cared about was hurting Cas, they wouldn't still be after him with such a gusto."

No one could argue with that logic. People were vengeful, but such an intense pursuit by government sponsored individuals would need more motive than simple bloodlust.

Bobby moved back to the scans, internally bracing himself for pulling up the next image that even Gabriel had been unable to explain yet.

Sam nudged Dean's shoulder, "Cas _is_ doing better though, right?"

A small smile crept over Dean's face, "Yeah…with that new medication he hasn't been hurting much at all. Granted every once in a while he gets a little nauseous, but that's butt loads better than what was going on before. His mojo is almost all back too. He's even gone two nights now without sleep."

"Is the lack of sleep due to his energy coming back, or other reasons?" Gabriel waggled his eyebrows meaningfully.

Dean glared back, "Dude. We're taking it slow."

"_Riiiiight._ Sam and I take it "slow" sometimes too."

Dean ignored him, "Point is, he's doing better now that we've got his pain covered. It's the first step in getting him truly _better_."

"And we've got plenty of that drug to last for a good long while," Gabriel offered helpfully.

Sam smirked at this, "Yes, I'd almost forgotten that you three have recently become trio of criminal masterminds. You already mapping out your next heist with Cas' crayons?" he joked.

The pilot moved closer and ginned evilly, "It's still in the coloring book stages, but it's well on its way. I'm even thinking of growing a big mustache again. As you know, I'm ever the traditionalist."

"Oh, please no," Sam groaned, "That thing would scare the children and probably make Cas go hide in the cargo panels again."

"If you boys are all done talking about your hair, I've got the next scans that we wanted to show you," Bobby said seriously and everyone's smiles fell as they turned their attention to the screen.

It was just as Gabriel had seen before back in the hospital. Two big black shadows were arching along with Cas' back, starkly standing out from the pale blue of the rest of the image. Gabriel had spent hours with Bobby looking these over before, studying ever last edge of the shadows in hope of making out what they were. The imager data bank had no information to give on the intrusive objects, not recognizing them in any way and giving them no hints as to what they were. The pilot watched as the Winchesters gazed upon the sight for the first time, seeing their confusion and mild horror at the unnatural sight.

"What the hell am I looking at?" Dean demanded once the shock had dissipated enough for Dean to react in any way.

"We don't know."

Cautiously Dean stepped forward, as if whatever was showing in the image before him would suddenly spring free and hit him. He peered down at the shadows that showed at Cas' shoulder blades, thinking of the many times that he had massaged Cas' shoulders, just in that exact spot that when Dean's fingers dug in, Cas would mewl and sigh. Dean felt sick.

"What the fuck do you mean, 'you don't know'?! What the hell are those things in his back? Did _they_ put them there? Can we take them out?"Dean yelled in horror.

"Calm down, boy! I'm no doctor and I sure as hell ain't a surgeon. If it is possible to take whatever they are out, I won't be the one to do it," Bobby shouted back.

Dean turned to Gabriel, "Then _you_ fix it!"

Gabriel shook his head miserably, not at all angered by Dean's yelling, "You don't think that I've tried? I don't know why I can't do anything about it, but…it may be because of how our healing works," he said desperately.

"Wait…Gabriel. You said before that you can only heal the body, nothing unnatural or foreign, right?" Sam asked.

"We know that, Sam. That's why we have to get them out," Dean said impatiently.

Ignoring Dean, Sam glanced at Gabriel, and receive a hesitant nod, Sam continued his trail of thought, "Well…what if…those things _are_ natural and there isn't anything to "fix"?"

The thought shocked all of them. It was certainly one way of looking at things.

"Whatever they are, there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to keep up the medication and hope for more information to come up. Maybe once I get some research done one neurology, we can make more sense of the findings. Until then…we just have to deal," Bobby finished and shut down the screen, taking the damning image away.

Dean stared at the blank screen a moment longer, "Get to know the _real_ man, huh," he stood up abruptly and walked to the door, "If we're just going to ignore the elephant in Cas' back for the time being, then I've got work to do. Thanks for the history lesson, Preacher."

And Dean left.

* * *

The sweet slap of a whip upon flesh filled the dark room, sending pleasant shivers down Dick Roman's spine. The only thing that would make the sound sweeter would be…

"_AHHHHHH! Noooo!"_

"Ah, yes. Such lovely screams you make, sir!" Dick cooed at the man strung up before him and then turned to one of his minions, making him stop his next whip mid flight.

"Hold him, please," and he stepped back to allow room for his minion to step forward and hold the swinging body in place. He would do it himself, but he didn't want to get his hands or suit dirty.

Dick moved up to his victim's ear and used his smoothest voice, "So now we are past the preliminaries. You know, the little questions of why you skim from my protection fund? How you could betray my trust. These questions we have past. Now we are zoning in on the real questions about who you truly are." Dick held out his hand and his minion quickly filled it with the hilt of a knife.

"I-I'm scho schorry, s-schir," the victim whispered brokenly past his now toothless mouth.

Dick ignored him and moved the knife up to his victims throat, watching as the man swallowed hard making the skin pulse up against the blade. He was about to add more pressure when the light suddenly broke into the room as another of his minions stepped into the room, opening the door frantically.

The sudden interruption made Dick clench his jaw in frustration and pull his knife away to address his minion, "Oh, really Charles? I was just about to get to the heart of the matter and you just _have _ to interrupt? Bad form," he pouted.

"My apologies, sir, but one of our long ranges picked up a read on the other side of this world. It might be the Impala. Dean Winchester's ship," the minion reported quickly, hoping his news would be enough to rebuff his boss anger.

It did indeed seem to please Dick as he let a slimy smile crawl over his features, "Oh! Oh, this is exciting news! Why don't you send a team out right now and bring Mr. Winchester here to me. I'd love to chat with him," he requested sweetly and his minion quickly ran off to do his boss' bidding.

Feeling particularly giddy now, Dick turned back to his victim, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to hurry this along, so let's get back to business. Now tell me…," he rammed the knife into the victims gut, "are you familiar with the works of Shan Yu?"

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Squeee! So much info in this chapter, hopefully you guys caught it all! Review iffin' you like!


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: And on to chapter two! Lotsa cuteness and a little plot.

ship. me: All the feels! Bwah ha ha ha!

leahelisabeth: Worry you not, we all have to be a little demented to be here! It's probably why we like supernatural so much too XD

Disclaimer: *gross sobbing on someone's shoulder getting tears and snot all over their new shirt that they got on clearance*

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CHAPTER 2

It was like those happy years before of chasing his little brother through the house in a fit of giggles and playful screams, feet slapping through the hallways and practically sliding through doorways. Balthazar rounded the next corner that led them in to the cargo bay as he bounded after a grinning little brother.

He knew that Castiel was teasing him by just barely staying out of reach when his little brother could easily outrun him, but Balthazar didn't mind in the least as he was quite enjoying their little game. And if the peeling laughter was anything to go by, Cassy was enjoying himself as well. That gorramn medicine was a godsend.

Up on the catwalk, Anna and Dean walked out from her shuttle, discussing her next job requirements and having to raise their voices a notch to hear each other over the echoing laughter in the room.

"I said yes, already. Where's the outstanding issue?" Dean asked somewhat peeved at the constant pestering from the Companion. He just didn't understand what was getting her expensive or absent panties in a bunch (did Companions wear underwear?).

Anna sighed exasperated, "The Councilor is an important political figure and a very private person…"

"So he visits you here instead of you going to his place. Fine. So what's the big deal then? The ship not clean enough for you, cause I'm telling you now, my baby is more than perfect," Dean said jumping to his beloved ship's defense. Discretely he ran his hand over one of the railings, testing for dust. He pulled his hand back to look at it only to scrunch up his nose and rub his hands on his pants, smiling sheepishly at Anna.

She smiled gently, "Don't worry, Dean. Your ship is fine. More than fine. I just… I want the Councilor to feel comfortable, and when I say comfortable I mean…alone," she looked up at the Captain and winced at her words.

Dean was about to respond when another shout was heard from down in the hold as Castiel finally let Balthazar catch up to him. The older brother swept up Cas and spun him around in a circle, Cas' blissful happy screams filling the hold and making Dean smile.

"Ah, the pitter patter of bare feet echoing through the hold paired with joyful screaming. How lovely," sighed Dean dramitacally, making Anna giggle next to him.

"Yeah, yeah. Hugs and puppies all around," Meg appeared next to them on the catwalk and leaned over, "Shut up! I can't rutting think with all this happy all over the place! Damn near suffacting from it all," she yelled down at them, but they ignored her completely.

Dean turned his attention back to Anna, "Listen. I don't like messing around with your work, but nobody sets foot on my boat without my meeting them. We've had some bad luck as of late with strangers coming aboard and I don't want to risk it." No way he'd be risking Cas so soon by just letting any Tom, Dick and Harry on board. There was no argument that Anna could make that would sway Dean in this. Dean had only just found himself a little bit of happiness, and he'd be damned before letting it slip through his fingers because he let his guard down.

Anna looked understanding but also a bit disappointed.

Smiling sympathetically Dean laid his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, Anna. I'm not going to start any more sword fights. I'm over that phase. I've grown."He offered his most innocent smile.

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Well, I'd appreciate it if you could keep the others from ogling," she digressed. Then the two of them were interrupted again as Castiel led chase up the stairs again with a red faced Balthazar behind him, both practically doubled over in laughter.

Dean smirked at the two of them as they got closer, "Hey, one of you two is going to fall and die, and I'm going to have to order someone to clean it up. That takes a whole ten seconds out of my day," he whined.

Breathlessly Balthazar looked up at the Captain, "He took my apple!" he said pointing an accusatory finger at Castiel who, as Dean took a closer look, was indeed holding an apple in his hand.

Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling like a parent whose kids had just tattled tailed on the other, "Meg _just_ got a whole crate of them! Just go get another one and let Cas have it." Truthfully as far as Dean was concerned Cas could have them all to gain back all the weight he had lost. Thankfully he had already put back on a few pounds with the cajoiling from Dean…and perhaps promises of more kisses once Cas finished his dinner.

Playfully Balthazar made another grab at the apple, practically knocking over Cas in the attempt, "But this one was _my_ apple!"

"Not anymore!" cheered Castiel and took a big bite out of said apple with a big juicy grin on his face that made Dean smirk proudly and then the other man took off again. Balthazar gave a loud wounded roar and chased after again, now seeking revenge for the ravaging of his beloved apple.

Damn, but it was a good day in Dean's book.

* * *

Balthazar tackled Cassy onto the couch in the dining area, Sam and Gabriel watching from where they sat at the table with a basket of apples between them and Meg at the end of the table. While finally pinning Cas below his knees, Balthazar let out a triumphant shout, "Ah ha! No power in the 'verse can stop me!"

Grinning around his own apple, Gabriel watched his brothers play, fondly remembering when this was a daily occurrence back when they were all children. Right before he had left for the Host, Gabriel remembered Cassy being an incredibly stoic and serious teenager. Now it was like seeing the little seven year old before him in an adult body. The memories both warmed and pained him now.

Next to him Sam took a knife out and began to cut a slice out of his apple and brought the piece to his mouth, "These really are the genuine article. I think I could get used to being rich," he said around chewing bites.

Gabriel smirked, "I certainly could as well! It's just Meg's whole being _generous_ with her cut fro the goods that confuses and…frightens me."

The mercenary in the corner ignored him and continued to munch on her own apple.

Balthazar grinned from over on the couch where he now sat upon a struggling to breath Castiel, "It does kind of freeze the blood," he said thoughtfully, ignoring the floundering Castiel beneath him.

From his squished position under Balthazar, Castiel reminded himself not to say what had triggered Meg's peace offering, deciding to let the other's remain ignorant to the true meaning behind the offered fruit.

A sound next to him brought Gabriel's attention to where Sam used his knife to cut into the apple again. The pilot frowned, "Sammamary Gland, how come you always cut your apples with a knife?" he asked curiously.

Balthazar looked over Sam confused, "He does? Don't you know anything about reserving kitchen ware for less dishes to wash? Sammy, I'm disappointed! I thought you went to college! All college student know how to avoid doing the dishes!"

Gabriel glanced at his brother and nodded, "I know, right?! Both him _and _ the Captain do it. Whenever we get fresh fruit, they never just munch on them," he stated in a fake annoyed tone.

Sam shrugged, "Do either of you know what a Grizwald is?" Sam asked them with a raised eyebrow.

Both Castiel's muffled voice and Meg's bored tone answered in unison, "It's a grenade."

Ignoring the awkward pause as Meg and Castiel exchanged that might have been too long of a glance, Sam continued with his explanation, "Yeah…that's right. It's the size of a battery and responds to pressure. Back in the trenches, Dean's and my platoon was stuck in a cold hole in the ground outside of New Kasmir during the winter campaign," he looked down at his apple as he continued, no longer meeting the eyes of anyone in the room as a dark memories shadowed his face.

"More than a week, completely cut off, and the Garrison entrenched not even ten yards away from us…We even got to talking to them. We yelled across insults, jokes and such…just talked to our enemy while we all sat there with no ammo and no orders to speak of, so what were we going to do? It was just nice to talk to someone new, ya know? Anyway…it got to the point where one of our younger members mentioned that we were out of rations, and not ten minutes later, a bunch of apples rained into our trench," Sam still didn't glance up, but if he did he would have noticed those in the room exchange apprehensive glances as they guessed what was coming next.

Gabriel swallowed hard, "And I'm guessing that they didn't grow it into a big tree, and you all climbed up into a magical land with unicorns that fart rainbows?"

"Blew their head off, right?" Castiel commented sadly from where Balthazar had finally moved off of him.

Sam nodded, "Dean told them to wait, but they were so hungry…Didn't make much noise. Just little pops and there's three guys that kind of end at the ribcage."

The others in the room felt like the apples they were chewing on had lodged themselves in their throats and Gabriel choked out a response while resting a comforting hand on Sam's arm, "But these apples…are healthsome and good. An apple a day keeps my wandering healing fingers away…wait, no. I don't think that apples would keep my hands off of you," he smirked meaningfully that had Balthazar blowing a raspberry from his spot over at the couches.

Even Meg smirked at that, "Yeah, besides. Adding in grenades would cost me extra."

That's when Dean strode into the room and quickly picked up an apple from the basket on the table, and immediately pulling out one of his many knives and cut out a slice, the others all watching the unconscious procedure with new understanding.

He didn't notice their eyes on him as he chewed on the slice, "Well guys, we are about 20,000 miles from our last drop. Then we can take a break and think about spending some of our fortunes," he announced happily as he stuffed two more big slices into his mouth, making him look somewhat like a chipmunk that used to each the acorns from Castiel's garden from childhood.

Everyone responded with happy affirmative sounds, all falling into a momentary silence as they day dreamed of what they might do with their wealth.

Unhappily, Meg grunted from the corner, "We could've made more, you know," she mumbled.

Dean knew what she was talking about and shook his head, "It wasn't a bad idea, Meg, but eliminating the middle man is never as simple as it sounds. About fifty percent of the human race are middle men and they don't take kindly to being eliminated. This quadrant, we play nice. We have enemies a plenty as it is."

"Hear hear!" cheered Balthazar and slapped Castiel enthusiastically on the back, and Dean was very pleased to see Cas not even flinch in the slightest.

It might just turn out to be a good day after all, thought Dean happily, and he moved to sit down on the couch next to Cas and Balthazar and listen to Cas' story of tragic failure in his daring escape from his brother.

* * *

Okay, so for those of you who don't know, I am in charge of a student run scifi/anime/gaming convention (around 2,000 attend) on my campus, and this coming friday through sunday I'll be working at the con. And as you might imagine, a lot of work goes into the week before, so I am going to try my best to keep posting everyday, but I give many apologies now if I miss a day or two. So...yeah. Sorry :C But I will be able to post tomorrow for sure :)


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Omg...I'm dead. Literally dead. You are reading the works of a zombie. Congrats for being that awesome. Now feed me your brains...

leahilisabeth: but the best part of a torture story is the torture for the reader waiting for it...

Disclaimer: Dead people can't own anything.

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CHAPTER 3

Sam and Gabriel retired to the control room after their little snack to go over the star maps for their current quadrant like Dean had asked. It was busy work that both of them could do alone, or even asleep, but it was a nice small activity they could do together without breaking public law of decency. They were quiet for the most part, just glad to still be within reach of each other after their almost run in with the Host, but there was an odd underlying feel of tension in Sam. For a brief moment, Gabriel wished that he had psychic powers like his little brother, but then thought better of it.

"So, Sammy. Gonna tell me what's on your mind, or do you want me to guess? Or better yet, how about I torture it out of you? I can go get that feather…"

Sam half smirked, "It's nothing, Gabe."

Gabriel let out a triumphant shout, "Ah ha! Whenever someone says 'nothing' they really mean 'something' which means that 'something' is something that I need to figure out before 'nothing' really really becomes a 'something' that you can no longer bring yourself to call 'nothing' and then something happens to make what's between us a real nothing."

Pausing for a minute to get that rant straight in his head before answering accordingly, Sam sighed and let what was really on his mind out before Dean could come in and accuse him of being a girl, "Okay. It's just about the job later today…"

Gabriel nodded encouragingly, "Yeah. Small one. I'm just flying Dean to the space station and we're just going to pick up the cash from our middle man, Jerry. Simple in and out."

Sam sighed heavily and Gabriel braced himself for what was coming next, "Yeah…I guess it's a small job…I'm just not sure that you should be the one to fly Dean is all," he muttered out quickly, "I mean, you _just_ escaped the Host. Who's to say that your face isn't appearing in every space station from here to the outer rim? Isn't it a bit risky? I could just as easily be the one to fly Dean. And Dean and Cas…" Sam cut off abruptly.

Smirking to himself, Gabriel swung his chair around and scooted closer to Sam, practically draping himself over the tall frame, "Ah ha. We've found the source of the sludge. I know you're worried about me running all over space and time, but you're also concerned for your brother," Gabriel leaned back to consider Sam.

He tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully, "Is little brother Sammy starting to feel left out of Dean's life? Cause, I gotta tell you man, you _are_ Dean's life."

"I know, it's just…"

"It just that it used to be just you and Dean against the universe, and now Dean's thoughts revolve around another sun."

Sam sighed wearily and rubbed a hand over his face while chuckling at himself. It sounded rather selfish when Gabriel put it like that. Truthfully Sam missed his time with Dean. He could hardly remember the last time that he and his brother stood on the catwalk and shared a beer, no one else there to bother them. The Winchesters never had many good memories, but to Sam, those were some of the best times in his life. When everything was calm and it was just them alone in the Impala. Home and freedom all wrapped up in one metal package. But could anyone fault Sam for just wanting to just have time with his brother?

He chuckled again and glanced over at Gabriel with a pathetic and embarrassed expression, "Is there any way I'm going to get out of this conversation with honor and dignity?"

"You're pretty much down to ritual suicide and animal sacrifice, Lambie-toes," Gabriel announced happily and handed Sam a chocolate bar that seemingly came out of nowhere. Five years now on this ship, and Sam _still_ couldn't find where Gabriel's stashes were in the control room.

With frustration born of weariness, Sam leaned back dramatically and ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends, "Tai-kong suo-yo duh shing-chioh doh sai-jin wuh dhu pe-goo!" (Stuff all the planets in the universe into my ass)

Gabriel chuckled, "Maybe later, Honey. But listen," he leaned close to Sam again, "I love the fact that you two are so close, with the whole Dean practically raised you and that you're both old army buddies, that you have wacky stories that have ribcages in them, but…Dean let go of you just enough that you could grow, be with me, and be yourself and not some creepily sexy Siamese unit of brothers. You need to do the same for him. Hell, you don't see me cock-blocking Cassy-doodle!"

"That's because you want to get him laid."

"As any big brother should want for his little brother, but that is beside the point. What I'm saying here is that I am a semi-large, semi-muscular man. I can take it if you want to venture off into the wonderful world of bromance for a while, but you need to tell me if you're coming back."

Sitting up, Sam frowned, "Of course I'm coming back."

"Let me re-phrase. I need you to tell me if you're coming back _with_ Dean, cause right now I'm not too sure that I can handle _two_ boyfriends. Sure it sounds like fun at first, but then you got the whole balancing act that has to go on so no one gets jealous. And in the end, polyamorous relationships rarely work out. Also, I don't think I can handle two Winchesters. One is far more than enough. And let's not forget Cassy. I've have _got_ to get him laid."

They shared a chuckle.

* * *

He had finally caught his breath for the first time in an hour since his earlier game of chase with Cassy, only to look around an empty hold wondering where in the 'verse his little brother had disappeared to this time. It was truly an unpleasant thing for one to be having such a wonderful time, to going into a slight panic in a matter of seconds. Balthazar's spirits had not been this high since…well, probably since he had been given that little piece of information that told him that Cassy was still alive at the Host and that he still had a chance to save him.

He would have pegged the moment that Balthazar had finally stolen Cassy out from the Host as his most happy memory, only it had been tarnished with the discovery of his little brother's "condition", how his baby brother was half out of his mind.

Dark thoughts aside, Balthazar wiped a sleeve over his forehead, clearing it of sweat and took off down a random hallway to try and locate Cassy again. Internally he was trying to calm his beating heart, assuring himself that they were in their own home with no feds aboard. Cassy was perfectly safe here.

This mental pep-talk didn't help at all when he ran into Dean while turning a corner, practically making him jump out of his skin.

"For the love of Ghandi! Sorry Captain, I'm just looking for Cassy."

Dean steadied the lean man with a hand to his shoulder, "Whoa, take it easy man. You look like you just got out of a high stakes poker game with a fed."

"We practically did, a few days ago," he panted out with a breathless chuckle.

Dean clapped him on the shoulder, "And we got out before it got too messy. Now, how about I help you find Cas. I think I heard him humming a little earlier by the passenger quarters."

Balthazar nodded in agreement, "Yes, and we should hurry. It's almost time for his next dosage."

"Well then we'll make a quick stop at the infirmary then."

* * *

Balthazar unlocked and opened the drawer that held the pre-loaded syringes that Bobby had prepared for them. It had been decided upon that there would be two shots a day of the same dosage, and that there shouldn't be any more than a two hour delay in between so as to avoid most of the discomfort and also make sure that Cas' impressive drug digestion didn't get a chance to dissipate before it became of use. As their timing was, they were already well into the first hour of their delay and they needed to find Cas promptly.

"Sooo, it's been a while since our last chat. Want to tell me how are you and Cassy getting along?"Balthazar prodded, trying his best not to sound too intimidating.

Dean however still faltered at the question and dropped the kidney pan he was fiddling with, "Uh, uh. Things are fine. Taking it slow…Just, uh, you know," he could practically feel the red crawling up his neck and leeching onto his face like a ripening tomato.

Balthazar chuckled at his discomfort, "That's wonderful. I was a little worried at first, I must admit."

"Listen, Balthazar. I promised you before and nothing has changed. I won't hurt Cas."

Balthazar waved him off, "Oh, I know that. I wasn't worried about your part in this all. I was more worried about Cas. You see…Cas is kind of…well, let's just say that Cassy is a lot like olive oil in some sense."

That made Dean pause, "What does that mean exactly? Does he make a good vinaigrette? He taste good drizzled on pasta? What?"

That got a hearty laugh out of the middle Novak, "No, no. At least I've never tried. What I mean to say is…he's what I like to call Extra Virgin."

Dean stared blankly, "Um…so, like I said. We're taking it slow."

"So you won't be spreading him over your "pasta" anytime soon?"

"Dude!"

* * *

They finally located Cas in the corridor outside of Balthazar's room, sitting up against the wall on the floor, head buried in his knees and a hand clenched in a fist over his stomach.

"Whoa, Cas! You okay, man?"Dean asked as he and Balthazar dropped to their knees beside him. Cas looked up at them blearily and shrugged before returning his head to his hands.

"I threw up," he stated simply, but both of them winced.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that, Darling. It's one of the side effects that Bobby warned us about. We just have to keep this up for a while until something better comes along. But Bobby hopes that the nausea will go away with time," Balthazar said softly while rubbing his hands up and down Cas' flank.

Cas heaved a big sigh that almost raised his shoulders to his ears, "With time, yes. Going…going back like…apple bits, coming back up. Chaos. Memories. Worms crawling through it…"

"Damn, Cas. I do hope that there were no worms crawling through it," Joked Dean, but really he was starting to feel a bit sick himself. It was obvious that Cas was actually talking about the memory of the drugs. What they did to him back then, how they made him feel. Every memory coming back in Technicolor….

But Dean and Balthazar weren't about to let this ruin the mood. Yes the drugs were bound to dig up old memories, and yes there were going to be some bad things among them, but after seeing Cas running around today, a real smile on his face paired with real laughter…Surely that outweighed the bad.

Balthazar reached out a hand to ruffle Cas' hair, "I know it's rough, little bird, but think about how much fun you had this morning! Didn't you enjoy it?"

Dreamily Cas smiled and looked up at them, "Yes. Played with Balthazar. The sun finally came out and I walked on my own two feet and heard with my own ears, touched with my own fingers, felt the warmth on my own skin. And I ate the bits, and the bits stayed down. I work again, like a real human."

Happily he glanced at Dean and stroked the Captain's stubbled cheek, triggering a soft smile form him, but then Cas' smile faltered, "I just hate it because I know that it'll go away. The sun goes dark and the chaos comes back again. And Dean doesn't want to come outside to play when it gets dark. Bits. Fluid. Worms. What am I?"

A part of Dean withered at hearing that. He had been thinking the exact same thing before and Cas probably overheard his thoughts. Although, Cas may have come to the conclusion himself as he was not totally ignorant of his own condition. He knew that he was not all together upstairs and that would always keep a wedge between the two of them in their fledgling relationship. It killed Dean as much as it killed Cas.

With gentle hands, Dean guided Cas' chin to face to catch the other man's eyes, "You're Cas. That's all that matters, okay?"

"And you're my beautiful, delightfully awkward baby brother," added Balthazar tenderly and pulled Cas in for a half hug.

The words seemed to comfort Cas a little and he seemed to release some of the tension from his frame and he buried his face in his brother's shoulder, mumbling happily into his expensive shirt, "I threw up on your bed," he informed, his voice just unmuffled enough for there to be no questioning what he had just said.

He and Dean exchanged an amused, and in Balthazar's case a more patiently annoyed look over Cas.

Balthazar chuckled, "Yep. Definitely my little brother."

* * *

Sigh, some cute and some important set-up for this chapter. Tomorrow I hope to post again, and that should be plot! Whooo! Now on to my second exam for the day!


	4. Chapter 4

Notes:So so so so sorry about not posting yesterday. Things got a little crazy in the lab and I was stuck till 2 am watching a stupid chroma column experiment finish :P I didn't even get to finish my homework yet D'X Oh well...I thought my professors liked me!?

leahelisabeth: your phone is awesome, just sayin'. And I pondered over that for a week! I had _no_ idea how I was going to handle this story and fitting characters where I needed them, but in the end...I love it when a story comes together!

ship. me: so glad you like! . *blush*

Disclaimer: Nope, nope, nope.

* * *

CHAPTER 4

For the last few months on the Impala, Bobby had sort of come up with various ways to keep himself entertained. He didn't have a specific job like pilot or mechanic, but he lent his hand in as many things as possible during his days, just to make sure he was pulling his own weight.

His day would start like it did at his old Abbey, where he would be the one to rise early and start the coffee. More often then not, he would also get a nice breakfast started up for the rest of the crew. Also more often than not, Cas was there to watch him, probably hoping to learn something about cooking.

After the morning meal, Bobby would then make his rounds in the ship, starting in the infirmary where he would do things like take inventory, or set up Cas' dosages for the day, or just clean up a bit. That usually took him to mid to late morning depending on how much trouble their crew had gotten themselves into the day before.

His next stop would be the engine room where he would find Chuck at work and sometimes Cas milling around humming to the various machinery. Bobby would offer his assistance with any project that Chuck might have going, might even offer some words of advice with handling old parts, and maybe occupy himself for a few hours there.

That usually only got him to early afternoon.

Lunch was cooked on a rotating schedule of crew members, so on the days that it was not Bobby's turn, he found himself very bored. It was Anna in her casual wisdom that gave him the idea to use this afternoon time to just…do little things. Fix a door hinge here, change a lightbulb there. Hell, if he was bored enough he would even offer to do the damn linen washing. And even after a few months on the Impala, he still was finding little things that he could work on.

It was a comfort to be of use, but he wasn't too sure if he was actually _needed_.

These kinds of thoughts would plague him as he worked on the simple projects, making his withered fingers falter only to try again with more vigor behind them. But lucky him on this day, his doubtful thoughts were interrupted by curious whispers coming from around the corner from where Bobby was working on a cracked floor panel.

Cracking his knees as he stood, Bobby ambled over to the whispers, spotting Chuck, Gabriel and Balthazar all huddled together peering around a corner into the hold where Bobby was pretty sure that Anna was about to meet her next 'appointment'.

"Didn't Anna express a wish for privacy, ya nosey idjits.?" His voice boomed, making the three men all jump and turn around to face the preacher.

After his heart started beating again, Balthazar giggled and bounced on his heels, "Oh, but Sheppard! We've got to see who she's got!" he 'whispered' loudly, almost breaking into a shout.

"You want in on the bet preacher?" Gabriel asked waggling his eyebrows.

Sighing, Bobby crossed his arms over his chest disapprovingly, "Dare I ask what this bet is on?"

Chuck smiled brightly as he answered, "What the ambassador is going to be like! Balthazar bets that he's going to be super handsome and that Anna is so secretive because she wants him all to herself. Gabriel bets he's super old! And I'm betting that-"

"Don't you all have better things to do with your time?"Bobby asked, amused judgment spilling into his voice.

"Allow us this little bit of entertainment, preacher. Chuck just won the last bet of when Dean would finally slip Cassy the tongue. We need a new bet started up to get our money back!"Balthazar whined.

"Shhhh! I think someone's coming!" Gabriel whispered with a giggle and he and the others crowded in to peer around the corner. Reluctantly, Bobby craned his neck a bit, hoping the others didn't notice his _mild_ curiosity.

* * *

The four men watched as a large man stepped into the cargo bay from the ramp to meet Dean and Anna.

Upon seeing the very muscular man enter his hold, Dean had to appreciate the man's stance and the power he exuded. He leaned close to Anna's ear to whisper to her, "Well, now that's an ambassador that could get his way. Guy must be as tall as Sam!"

For whatever reason, this made Anna giggle behind her hand. Ignoring her odd reaction, Dean stepped forward and held out his hand in greeting, "Welcome aboard. I'm Captain Dean Winches…"

The large man was completely ignoring Dean, not even moving up close enough to complete the handshake and instead started casing the joint, his eyes looming over each part of the hold as if looking for threats. Were all politician's this paranoid?

Then he raised his sleeve to his mouth and spoke into what Dean assumed was a mike of sorts, "We're all clear here, Councilor."

Dean raised his eyes to the bright sun coming through the open door as a figure stepped forward to shadow the doorway, a very _slim_ and elegant shadow…

A very well-heeled and beautiful woman glided forward heading straight for Anna and ignoring the stunned Captain completely, not that he would have been able to form complete words at this time. Out of the corner of his eye though, he caught sight of some of his crew peeking around the corner, their mouths hanging open.

After exchanging very quick and very quiet pleasantries, Anna led the counselor away towards her shuttle, the body guard following behind.

In a partial daze, Dean walked his way over to where his crew were still cramped together in shock. As if suddenly weighted down, Dean leaned on the wall and blew out an amazed breath, "Huh."

Blushing brightly, Bobby grunted out an, "Oh my," as Gabriel practically crumbled to the floor in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Oh, gosh, I…I knew she took females as clients…I just…I never….Damn, they looked so pretty together!" Breathed out Chuck in awe, not breaking his eyes away from where Anna and the Counselor were standing moments before. He didn't even register when both Novak brothers pulled money from their pockets and thrust it into his hands, no bitterness in the action this time around.

Balthazar seemed to giddy to stand still, "I think I'll go be in my bunk for a bit. If the beds a rocking, don't come a-knocking!"

Nobody replied, just continued to stare at the hatch door to Anna's shuttle.

* * *

A couple hours later found Gabriel and Dean preparing the second shuttle for their last little errand to pick up the last of the cash from their middle man. The pilot had been playing in his head, over and over his conversation earlier with Sam and what conclusion that they had come up with after all was said and done. There was one easy way to take care of both of Sam's issues in one fell swoop.

Dean was currently checking out the specs on his hand held comp. pad that Sam insisted on buying with some of the ship's new fortune and was cursing it's very existence, "Why the hell did we need this? I mean, is paper not good enough?"

"Welcome to the 41st century, Dean. Where we try our best to save the trees," Gabriel commented dryly, glancing at the door to the shuttle expectantly.

Dean didn't notice his pilot's distraction, "Gah! Was Cas messing around with this again? I swear every time I turn this thing on I find searches for the weirdest stuff. I mean, who looks up the circulatory system of the ancient flamingo."

"Are you sure it's not your favorite porn site that's bogging it up again."

Both Dean and Gabriel glanced at the door at Sam's sudden appearance.

"Sammy, what's up? Did we get a call from Jerry or something?" Dean asked concerned, not entirely sure why Sam was here.

With a quick glance Gabriel's way, Sam regarded his brother hesitantly, "No, no call. I just…I'm going to be driving you today."

Not expecting something so casual, Dean nodded only slightly confused, "Um, okay…I just thought that Gabriel was going to fly me to the meeting point. Why the change?"

"Just didn't want you taking off without me. Thought I might make this run instead now that I can fly almost as good as Gabe."

Now Dean knew something was up. Sam always chose his words very carefully, and this was setting off all sorts of Sammy alarms that has Dean's head swimming with thoughts, "Okay, now right now I'm of a mind to just plain say no until you can give me the real reason, so spill."

"Dean it's just…It has potential to be a dangerous mission, and I really don't feel all too comfortable letting Gabe go off into a danger zone when he only just got out of a mix up with the Host. Jerry for all we know could have seen Gabe's face on one of the new wanted posters just sent out and has an ambushed planned."

"Jerry? An ambush? You know this is the guy who's best friend is a squirrel, right? The guy is happily paid in acorns! You're not telling me everything."

"Captain, if I may. I think that it also has something to do with the thought of you and Sam having another thrilling tale of bonding and adventure to share between the two of you," Gabriel broke in suddenly, trying his best to calm this storm before Dean got any more confused.

It only partially reached Dean, "Okay, um, I'm lost. And, uh, I'm a little upset, and I'm armed, so if you and Sam have something you need to work out…"

"It's not about Gabe and me, it's about you and me. I just…I'd really like to be the one to go on this mission," Sam finished sheepishly.

"I wouldn't mind sitting this one out, Captain," added Gabriel hurriedly.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Dean waved off Sam, "Fine, okay whatever. Just go get yourself armed and meet me back here in five."

Sam ran off to comply and Gabriel made a move to follow but was stopped by Dean grabbing his arm, "You going to tell me what's going on here, Tricky?"

Seemingly trapped for the moment, Gabriel sat down next to Dean and met his intense gaze, "Like Sam said, it's about you and him. He's just…feeling a bit left out I suppose. You and Cas have been so bunched up tight together lately, Sam's starting to feel like there's no more room for him anymore."

Dean snorted, "Oh, come on. Sam's fine with me and Cas, just like I was fine when you and him started to be buddy buddy."

"Of course he's fine with you and Cas, he just…can you blame him for missing his big brother?"

"I haven't gone anywhere. Hell, we all live on the same ship and see each other every day! How many other brothers our age can say that?"

Gabriel gave him a look, "You two are different, and you know it. Now are you really going to begrudge him some brotherly bonding time by being pissy? Or are you going to enjoy this mission like its the old times?"

Dean heaved a heavy sigh, "Fine, I'll let him off the hook this time, as a courtesy for his girly emotional clingy needs."

"Fabulous."

"But Gabriel…Can you promise me something?"

The sudden seriousness in his Captain's voice made Gabriel sit up straighter and all joking was pushed aside, "Of course, what can I do for ya?"

"I've talked to Balthazar a few times, and promised him that I will always do my best to put Cas first, and protect him will everything I've got. And I make that same promise to you…but I want to hear that you will _always_ do the same for Sam."

"Of course I'll look out for Sam…"

"No, I mean…If it ever came down to it…you would always save Sam."

Gabriel could see the burning behind Dean's eyes as he asked this. It was more than just asking the pilot to keep Sam out of trouble, it was asking if Dean could _trust_ Gabriel to always do what was best for Sam without question. Such a promise was not given lightly.

And that's why Gabriel made sure that his eyes were matched to Dean's and his grip tight when he reached out to shake Dean's hand, making the promise solid.

"You can count on me."

"Count on him for what," Sam asked as he suddenly appeared back in the shuttle.

Gabriel immediately brightened up, breaking the serious moment, "Count on me to cut your hair should it ever reach past your shoulders."

Sam rolled his eyes and took a swing at Gabe's head playfully as the pilot got up to vacate the room and Sam planted himself in the chair closest the window.

"All right you two, go about your business. Sing old army songs, make brotherly love, gossip about your loved ones…and make more brotherly love before we all mistake the intense brotherly passion for that of sexual tension! Oh, and don't stop at any bars on the way home. You know how Cassy hates when we go drinking without him."

As Gabriel walked out of the shuttle, both brothers watched him go fondly. Sam grateful to be given the chance to just be with Dean, and Dean grateful that someone else would help him look out for Sam.

"Alright scoot, jerkface. Show your elders some respect," Dean swatted at Sam, trying to get Sam to move to the other chair that he could still pilot from. Sam damn well knew that this chair was far more comfortable.

Sam swatted right back, "You scoot asshat, I was here first."

* * *

Go make brotherly love you two...fingers crossed that I can post tomorrow...


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: Lol, I suppose I can post another today. Let's just hope I can get back on schedule so that I can post friday as well XD

Disclaimer: Daily reminder: I'm awesome, but I also don't own any of this.

* * *

CHAPTER 5

Three hours of copulations later, the councilor found herself blessed out and lying face down on Anna's bed, enjoying a massage by the Companion over her nude back. She was in the half-between world where she wasn't entirely sure if she was still awake or in the midst of a wonderful dream, only having the tingles down her spine as clue.

"Mmmm, that feels amazing," she murmured into the pillow and then she gasped a breath that morphed into a soft purr, "Oh, right there. That's perfect….Oh, I should have done this weeks ago," he sighed glancing at Anna out of the corner of her eye.

The Companion chuckled, "I wouldn't have been here weeks ago," she reminded the Councilor in a teasing tone, digging her fingers into a soft shoulder blade, watching the massage oil reflect a soft golden glow off her skin.

"And that would have been a shame," the Councilor replied honesly.

Anna let a soft smile fall on her features, one that the Counsilor wouldn't see, "For me as well. I would not have gotten a chance to worship your beautiful skin."

Her client laughed quietly and turned around playfully and tugged at Anna's hair, "There's no need for show, Anna. I just need to relax with someone who's making no demands of me. Who isn't looking to suck up, or brown nose. After being among politicians day after day…I would just like to hear honesty."

Anna considered this a moment before looking into her clients eyes fondly, "Honesty? Did you happen to know that most of my clientele is male?

"No. I was not aware. You seemed to know your way around well enough that I assumed…"

Anna quieted the Councilor with a caress to her cheek, "It means that if I choose a woman, she tends to be extraordinary in some way. And the fact is, I occasionally have the exact same need as you do. One cannot always be one's self in the company of men," she told her in a serious, but gentle tone.

This made the Councilor smile, "In my case I can never be myself."

"We all need an escape every once in a while. It gives us a chance to let down our defenses, if only for a moment. I found my escape here, in this Ship."

"And I in your bed," the Counsilor said slyly.

Anna smiled back, just as wickedly, "So then no more show. Let's just…enjoy ourselves."

And the two found themselves entangled again, all pillows and sheets falling off the bed during their dance.

* * *

It felt right.

At first Sam had been a little worried that because of the weird circumstances that had them both on this mission together that things would be kind of awkward, especially with Dean getting kind of upset before, but now…it just felt right.

And a quick glance over at his brother's relaxed posture and quirked lips assured Sam that Dean was feeling the same way. It was just like old times, well, almost. A lot had happened to them in the past few months, hell, even in the last few years, but Sam was relieved to find that even the times they spent away from each other, or fighting each other, hadn't taken away that feel of home when it was just Sam and Dean.

The younger Winchester felt a little foolish for his earlier concern of Dean drifting away now that he was convinced that everything was cool between them. However, he sure as hell wouldn't let this alone time go to waste now that he had it.

A smirk crawled over Sam's face, "So Dean….this thing with you and Cas…"

"Hey, just cause I let you come along doesn't mean I suddenly gained an extra X chromosome and I'm going to compare boyfriends," Dean warned, but Sam could hear the gentleness behind it.

Sam chuckled, "I know that, I was just curious as to how things were going. He seems to be doing really well, and you seem…happy. Like, actually happy."

"Well, for whatever reason, he makes me happy. He might be up in the clouds half the time, but I also know that he's always there for me if I need it. Small comforts, you know" Dean admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah, I get it, so things are okay then. Even with the whole…" Sam twiddled a finger around his ear.

Dean chuckled to himself, "It's not so bad. Hell, when he and I are alone, sometimes he can act so…normal that I forget for a while. I asked Balthazar a few times…about what Cas was like before the Host, and he told me that I had gotten a pretty good idea."

"You mean the whole social awkwardness and pop-culture ineptitude?"

"Dude, I mean that if I asked Cas to learn snake charming, he would go out and buy chocolates and a book of poetry and start reading to a cobra."

Sam laughed at that, "So that's the real him, huh?"

"You bet your pigtails, Sammy. That's Cas," Dean said fondly, idly staring out at the stars in the window, thinking about what Cas might be up to right now, and wondering if Balthazar remembered that his next dosage was in two hours.

"Okay, Sammy. Now it's your turn to spill your guts you big girl. I didn't just let you come along on this milk run because I needed you to pull something off the top shelf. Gabriel was set and ready to do his job and fly me to the meeting point, but you put on the brakes for that. You going to tell me why?" Dean asked, knowing the answer thanks to Gabriel, but still wanting Sam to speak his peace so that they could clear the air, "What is it Sam?"

Sam swallowed visibly as Dean changed the subject, knowing that he had been caught, "Nothing Dean. Really. I just…wanted to be sure of you."

It was simple, but Dean got the message fully. He gave Sam an understanding nod and turned his gaze back to the stars and both brothers fell into the familiar and comfortable silence that they had been sharing since they were children. Who knew such silence could bring so much comfort?

* * *

His earlier fondness for Sam was quickly dissipating as Dean watched his brother walk easily through the deep sand, aided by his freakishly long legs. A small innocent spark of jealousy shot through Dean as he stumbled for the third time as he sank even deeper into the sands.

At least he could take comfort in that this run was going to be a quick grab and go, no complications, no blood.

The thought of finishing this up fast and then heading back home to enjoy a nice dinner that Bobby was cooking, and then some later alone time with Cas brought a smile to his face as he trudged on, sand billowing under each new step.

Up over the next dune, Dean could just make out several human figures shadowed by the setting sun. He could also make out the shapes of weapons in their arms, but that was normal for Jerry, and they never made any agreement to not bring weapons on this exchange. In an odd criminal way, it was a sign of trust to allow the other to bring their weapons along. Hell, they had been dealing with Jerry so long that both Dean and Sam had guns in their holsters upon pure partial trust with Jerry.

Finally they moved up close enough to make out Jerry's chubby grin among his crew.

"Nice to know the Winchesters are still trustworthy. Your man was right. The meds made a buttload of cash," he called out to them with a happy chortle.

"Not so trustworthy that I don't want to see that moolah promised me. How'd your sale go? You give them the old grip, dip and go?"Dean called back, teasing in his voice.

As answer Jerry threw over a very large and bulging bag of coins Sam's way, knowing that the younger Winchester would check it out while Dean finished off the pleasantries and close the deal.

Nodding to his men, Jerry waltzed up to Dean, hooking his chubby fingers in the loops of his belt, glad to get a chance to chat with one of his less terrifying contacts, "Oh man, Winchester. I can't believe you guys knocked over a Garrison hospital! Your crew must wear their pants one size up just to fit those giant balls y'all seem to have!" he joked, slapping Dean on the shoulder.

With a small rush of pride Dean smiled back, "Damn straight! Stuff legends are made of!" Inside he sent a quick salute to his newest crew members, that without them they would never have been able to pull this off, or even think of. Although, Dean was not planning on doing a heist like that anytime soon. Gotta let things cool down for the Novaks first.

"Your balls, or the heist?"

That got Sam and Jerry's men to start laughing out loud, all of them enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. But then Dean looked back to Jerry only to see a red dot on his contact's forehead. A laser sight…

"Tzao-goa!" (oh, shit!) Dean didn't have time to get our more warning than that, all he could do was grab Sam's arm and pull them both to the ground, watching in slow motion as Jerry's head suddenly snapped back and blood and brain exploded out the back of his head.

Both brothers remained flat on the ground, watching the chaos erupt around them. The three men that had accompanied Jerry, who they had known for the last five years as good criminally active guys, were taken down almost simultaneously as red dots centered on their heads and bullets whistled through the air.

"Dean, who the hell is shooting at us?!" Sam shouted, panic coating his voice.

Dean didn't have an answer. He didn't know. Jerry didn't have enemies, but they were the ones who were shot down first. To Dean, this meant that the shooters wanted Sam and Dean alive.

And guys with guns who wanted Sam and Dean alive were the worst kind of guys to run into.

Dean tightened his grip on Sam's arm as he watched the gunmen come out from their hiding places in the dunes.

* * *

Now there were three signs that were getting Gabriel into a tizzy right now, and all these signs were pointing to trouble brewing. And of course, since both Sam and Dean were absent, that meant that the trouble probably had something to do with them.

First sign was the fact that the Winchesters had been on their mission for the last six hours, even though it was only supposed to last four with travel time included. Now this could easily be explained by them totally ignoring Gabriel and stopping by a bar on the way back, or that they were still making brotherly love, or maybe they were still chatting it up with Jerry. The contact was well known for his friendliness and might have gotten the brothers into a story sharing time.

But that brought him to the second sign, Castiel. His little brother seemed to have regressed back several weeks in his recovery and was now only spouting his paranoid riddle language instead of his recent full sentence and complete paragraphs upgrade. Currently Cassy was sitting on the catwalk, staring straight ahead at door that would lead to the shuttle when it would return with the brothers. Only the ship wasn't there and anyone could see that Cassy was getting mighty fidgety and wouldn't stop his humming.

And of course, the last sign; Gabriel felt like he was going to be sick.

He walked into the hold to find Bobby, Balthazar and Meg using the workout equipment they kept in the back corner of the cargo bay. The preacher had been working on tightening the screws on the leg lift, while Meg and Balthazar had been working with the barbells when the pilot walked in. Right away they noticed his worried expression, but before they could voice any concerns, they heard laughter coming from the above catwalk where Anna and the Councilor emerged from the Companion's shuttle.

The women smiled softly as they approached the humming Cas by their feet. Anna kneeled down next to him and petted his head affectionately, "Hello Castiel. Waiting for Dean to get back I'm guessing?" she asked sweetly.

She felt him shudder under her hand and he turned to look at her sadly, "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

Anna was not stupid, nor was she ignorant to the fact that Cas' words always had deeper reason, and this little snippet set her on alert. Quickly she kissed his cheek and squeezed his shoulder in comfort, and then brought her attention back to her client. She would have to make this goodbye fast.

With some simple words exchanged, and a caste kiss to her plump lips, Anna walked her down the stairs and delivered her to the Counsilor's bodyguard. With one last longing touch of their hands, her client was led out of the hold.

Immedietely after the door closed and the Counsilor was out of sight, Anna's soft smile fell and she turned back to her crew, "Dare I ask what's wrong?"

"There's something wrong?" asked Balthazar surprised.

Gabriel scraped his hands along his jaw, "Damn right there's something wrong. Sam and Dean aren't back."

"They could just be running late," offered Bobby, trying to keep the kids calm before they all broke out into hysterics.

Gabriel shook his head, "No. Can't just be that. Castiel is talking in riddles again," to anyone else, the Pilot's statement would sound ridiculous and unrelated, but to the crew of the Impala, the implications were there. If Cas said something was wrong, then they better start listening.

Now seeing the light, Bobby glanced over at Meg, "You go grab your weapons," he told her.

She looked over at him confused, "What for? We don't even know what happened to them yet."

"Well we're going to go find out. Gabriel, fly us to the meeting rendezvous coordinates. Meg, you, Balthazar and I are going to check out the area for clues. And Cas…," Bobby called up to the catwalk where Cas was watching them like a perched eagle, "You're going to come with us, boy. Your eyes will probably see much more than any of us."

Cas nodded back, a spark of fire erupting in his eyes.

* * *

Yes, Sam did indeed quote Piglet. No judgement. Piglet is awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: *gross sobbing with hysterical laughter mixed in* omg...I am so sleep deprived right now. Who knew running a convention could be so intense! Oh, wait. I knew it all along, I was just in denial. I wonder how this effects my writing ability? I'm probably going to post a chapter in the next few days that is basically "aoit a;ghakjhd;ah" and y'all are gonna be like, "wut?". And I'm gonna be passed out on a sidewalk somewhere in new york, using a rock as a pillow and cuddling with a homeless guy.

ship. me: I added some glitter for you in this chapter! Keep an eye out for it.

leahelisabeth: *heart*

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even my sanity at this point.

* * *

CHAPTER 6

The Impala touched down gently in the sand besides the missing shuttle, creating a small dust storm in their wake. They had followed the tracking beacon that Chuck had installed to stop people from stealing their shuttles anymore and had traced the tracker to a small flat sand dune only a mile from the rendezvous point.

Faces grim, the crew lowered the ramp and stepped out onto the sand, Castiel leading the pack like a dog on a scent. He didn't seem too interested in the shuttle, but the rest of the crew still chose to investigate the vessel, just in case. They were not about to miss _anything._

For the most part, there was nothing to find in the empty ship. There was nothing there, no brothers, no money, no bullet holes, and thankfully no blood. Gabriel quickly went over all of the ship's logs, but found nothing to hint at danger or disaster. Everything was in order here.

"Okay, I've got nothing," confessed Chuck with a groan. He had gone over the ship's specs to see if there had been any malfunction, but nothing was wrong. Ship shape, as Dean would have said.

Bobby frowned and shook his head in disagreement, "Just cause there's nothing wrong here doesn't mean that we've _got_ nothing. It just means that whatever happened, happened somewhere else and that as far as we know, they arrived here safely and probably headed to the meeting point."

"So…we head to the coordinates?" Chuck asked hesitantly, a little nervous at the idea of going to the place that made the Winchesters disappear.

"Damn straight. Now hook up your skirts, ladies and be on guard."

* * *

Castiel had waited impatiently outside of the shuttle for his crew to satisfy and complete their unnecessary investigation. He would have thought that their curiosity would be quelled when they saw that neither Dean nor Sam were there, but they had insisted on checking it out anyway, wasting precious time.

Easily Castiel could see the trail that the brothers had taken, not by the footsteps in the sand that were all but gone thanks to the wind, but because of what Cas could _feel._ Just as much as he could see where they had headed, he could also feel that they were no longer there, or anywhere nearby for that matter. This was the only reason why Castiel had not argued with his crew on searching for clues. His reaching tendrils could only go so far, and whatever had taken Dean had taken him outside of his radius. All he and his crew had to go on now was what was physically left behind. Cas would only be able to continue his search if they got back in range again.

He tried not to growl in impatience as the crew slowly trickled out of the ship, but he just couldn't help it. Luckily the wise preacher and his eldest brother seemed to pick up on his need to hurry, and set a fast pace to head to the coordinates Dean had agreed on with Jerry. Again, Cas lead the group, easily scaling the dunes while the others stumbled and tripped as their feet got swallowed up by the sand. The closer they got, the more Castiel felt a horrid tugging in his chest. Something bad had happened here, and he picked up on a scent that worried him.

As they breeched over the crest of the hill, all could see imedietely what had happened. Before them lay four bloody bodies of men who had the backs of their heads blown out, probably from a sniper. An ambush them Bobby reasoned. They saw no signs of return fire, so it probably happened too fast for any response. And most damning above all, they saw no Winchesters.

"Fuck, they're not here!" swore Gabriel as he kicked at the sand.

"But they were," Meg commented mildly as she pulled one of Dean's knives from the sand. A quick sweep of her hand over the ground around her revealed the rest of the Winchester's guns and knives, Sam's as well, all buried under the wind moved sand. The boys had been stripped of weapons it seemed.

Bobby ran a hand over his face, brushing the sweat from his eyes, "Okay. So it's looking like the ambush was meant to grab our boys. That's good news."

Net to him Castiel frowned and looked over at the preacher, "I don't understand your definition of good news," he said, clearly very confused.

"It means that they wanted them alive, which means we still have time to get them back," the Sheppard clarified gruffly. He didn't add that chances also were pretty high for the brother's not coming back in one piece. Castiel seemed to know this already though as he trailed his deep blue eyes over the sand before them, seeing beyond what the rest could.

"Okay, so they were taken…by who? Can we figure that out? Cassy?" asked Balthazar, clearly frustrated with the lack of answers.

Meg grunted from her spot by the dead bodies, where she was looking them over while also checking for any prizes on the bodies, "This is precision work. Definietely sharpshooters. From the look of the wounds, I'd say a 54-R sniper rifle…"

"55-R I think. These ones must have had laser sights on 'em," commented Bobby as he knelt down next to the body of Jerry.

Meg threw him a judging look, "They do a lot of shooting at the abbey there, Sheppard?"

"Rabbits and deer," he responded dryly, not taking the bait.

"Yeah, for stew, I'm sure…"she muttered under her breath while pulling a nice new knife out of the dead guy's belt. That would do very nicely in her collection.

Then Gabriel and Chuck called out from over the next dune, "Hey! We got something!"

The rest of them hurried over to see what the mechanic and pilot had found and arrived to see them crouching over a black streak in the sand. Gabriel gestured to it and sighed, "We're not going to find them here. They're probably already off planet. See that mark here? Only type of transport I know that makes a mark like this is a fast burn rocket shuttle."

"Shuttle? So that means it's part of a bigger ship then…"Anna concluded.

Gabriel shrugged, "Perhaps, but this one is from a far more powerful type of rocket. Goes much further than our own little tug boats. I'm thinking space station."

Balthazar's stomach dropped, "The feds? You think the Host caught up with us?"

"No. It's not the Host," Castiel whispered.

"You got something to say little brother? Do you know who took them?" the middle Novak asked tenderly, not wanting to upset his little brother too much. They could all see that Cas was barely hanging on to a thin tether of hope and sanity that Dean was still out there.

"Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes and they all look just the same."

"Boxes?"

"Argh! What's he going on about now? I thought we stopped feeding him fortune cookies!"Meg hissed and kicked the sand in frustration.

"Wrapped up presents. One with golden medicine, the other with blackened poison, but it all looks the same….smells the same….It smells the same now as it did then. It's not re-gifted, it's just from the same person."

They all stood there dumbfounded, staring at Cas and waiting for some sort of clarification, but they got nothing more. Another riddle, but Bobby was getting damn good at these.

"Boxes. Medicine. Poison. Same person…"he mused out loud, and right away the rest of the crew suddenly caught on, but when the realization hit them almost all hope dimmed.

"Shit," cursed Meg, knowing who it was they were dealing with now.

Unable to come up with anything better to say Balthazar sighed out a terrified, "Shit" himself.

"Gorramn it, I knew that we weren't done with Dick. Guy never goes away for too long," Bobby groaned and punched the air. He should have seen this coming. Monsters like Dick Roman would not just let them go so easily after they had betrayed him. They should have been more careful.

"Cassy-bear, tell me that you can find them," Gabriel pleaded and all eyes turned to the young man.

Instead of shrinking back into his jacket, Castiel smiled darkly and leered at the sky, "An arrow may fly through the air and leave no trace, but an ill thought leaves a trail like a serpent…I will find them."

* * *

_"Dean! Dean!"_

_"What is it Sammy?"_

_"Look!"_

_"Uh huh."_

_"No! You have to look, Dean! It's really cool, I promise."_

_With a heavy sigh, Dean turned to where his five year old little brother was practically jumping in place a few feet away. Dean had been busy cleaning the guns for their dad as Sam played just outside the door with Dean's old plastic soldiers._

_Sam's jumping was becoming so frequent that he was practically vibrating as Dean scanned him for whatever was making his little brother so excited._

_"You're gonna have to help me out here, Sammy, cause I'm not seeing anything cool right now."_

_Sam rolled his eyes dramatically and pointed out the window, acting incredibly exasperated at having such an ignorant older brother. Obligingly, Dean got up from the table and made his way over to the window, but not before checking to make sure the safety was on for each gun and that Sam was a good distance away from the weapons. Cautiously he peered over the window sill, taking in the immediate area._

_They were currently stationed on a desert planet, where all around them for miles was nothing but dirt and dust, and it had been weeks since Dean had looked out his window and seen anything new. But now he was surprised and a bit concerned to see a big dust cloud off in the distance. It could mean several things that quickly flew through nine-year old Dean's mind._

_Could be a bunch of people in transcars, could be a dust storm, or it could be a ship landing. All of which could be a threat to Sammy._

_"C'mere, Sam. Time to play hide and seek. You hide first, but it has to be in the house, and you don't come out until you hear me call. Okay?" Dean instructed, gently pulling Sam away from the window._

_"Kay," Sam replied, excited to play with Dean again and without waiting for Dean to even close his eyes to count, he ducked into the closet and pulled the door shut._

_Satisfied with Sammy's choice, Dean started to count as slowly as possible while he gathered things from around the room. First he grabbed one of the guns he had been cleaning from the table and flicked off the safety and loaded it up again with ammo. Next step was to close and lock the doors and windows, pulling the raggedy curtains closed as well. And finally, Dean would position himself near the door where he could peer out one of the spy holes he had made when they first arrived in this house._

_"Ready or not, here I come," Dean said only loud enough for Sam to hear, and then he waited with his green eyes never leaving the oncoming dust bowl. By the size and speed, looked like he was dealing with transcars. He held his breath._

_Not even thirty seconds later he blew it out again in relief as he recognized his dad's and a few other hunter's faces as the transcars pulled into the compound. Patiently, Dean waited for the signal from his dad before rushing out to greet him._

_He didn't have to wait long as John Winchester turned to look at the house and saluted with three fingers, all was clear and the boys could come out._

_Grinning ear to ear, Dean tore open the door to the closet making Sam squeal in delight, "Yay! My turn, my turn!"_

_"Maybe later, Sammy. Dad's home."_

_And another squeal of delight tore from Sam's mouth and he and Dean quickly exited the clay house and ran up to their father who bent down to greet them._

_"Heya, Sammy. Dean," he said while ruffling Sam's over-long hair._

_"Hello, sir," they responded dutifully, twin smiles on their faces._

_"Dad, Dad, Dad! I drew a picture for you! Come see!"_

_John smiled at his youngest son, a sad affection in his eyes, "I'll be right there Sammy. Just got to finish up here first. I'll meet you inside, okay?"_

_"Kay!" and Sam scrambled off to go get the picture ready for his dad's judgment._

_Smile sliding from his face, John turned his now serious gaze to Dean, "Everything in order, I'm assuming?"_

_Like a nine- year old soldier, Dean straightened up his spine and met his father's eyes, "Yes, sir. Everything is fine. No problems."_

_"And Sammy?"_

_"I took care of him, sir."_

_Finally John let a smile crack over his face that Dean echoed, "Good. I expect nothing less from you."_

_"And I expect nothing less from me."_

* * *

"Sam? Sammy? You okay? Talk to me," Dean called out from the darkness. As the men advanced on the brothers, they quickly pulled out stunners that sent both Sam and Dean into unconsciousness. Now Dean had awoken to find himself tied up on a cold floor, blindfolded, and Sam wasn't answering him.

Fumbling around, and flopping his limb as much as he could, he finally ended up kicking something that certainly felt like a body. Maneuvering himself awkwardly, Dean positioned himself to analyze the still form beside him. Judging by the length of the leg he was pressed up against, it was definitely Sam. Another flop and Dean could hear his brother's steady breathing.

In the complete darkness, Dean focused on that sounds, and nothing else. As long as Sam was breathing, they would get out of this. Dean would get them both out of this. He would expect nothing less of himself.

* * *

*Tosses Glitter*

* * *

Man-agnst, Mangst! Sam anguish, samguish! Look, look! In my delirium I made some new words! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: omg... I haven't slept for almost 40 hours...I'm actually posting this from Operations center of my convention while I'm still on duty. Hopefully no one notices...and hopefully no other crisis come up. Apologies for not posting yesterday, so as a gift, monday once my convention is all done I'll be posting two chapters.

leahelisabeth: sleeep? * hysterical laughter* But I'm glad you liked the weechester! moment! I literally got to a part in the chapter and I was like...I really need a flashback here, but I had no idea what to write for it, so I just started by writing the first line of Sam calling for Dean and then it morphed from there, it was like ad lib XD I promise, promise, promise torture to come . So So SO sorrry!

ship. me: ha ha! I'm so happy that you like the glitter moment! I had this terrible moment with glitter today though and it made me think of your review. There was some cosplayer at the convention who was dressed as pinky pie from my little pony and she was tossing glitter EVERYWHERE through the con in huge gobs of stuff. It was pretty, but a pain cause we would have to clean it all up . But then again, we had an awesome maintenance person come by with like, a ghost buster vacuum, and cleaned it up for us! So much win.

Disclaimer: Sanity is gone. I have nothing left now.

* * *

CHAPTER 7

Sam had only just began to stir when Dean heard the engines cut out, informing him that the shuttle that they were on had arrived, and going by the sound of the engines, Dean was guessing long range, which meant they had probably just pulled up to a space station. His mind first jumped to a fed station, that there were Host agents on board ready to torture the location of the Novaks from them, and for a brief moment, Dean was at a loss as to how he was going to approach this. One, he didn't want Sam tortured, but two he damn as hell didn't want the give up Cas and the others.

However, reason told him that the small glimpses of their kidnappers before they had been stunned, these guys were not feds. No Garrison or Host agent would be dressed in what kind of looked like leather bondage gear. One of them even had a whip on his belt. So who the hell had them? Right away Dean started to go through his mental catalogue of all of their enemies that might want to kidnap them, and who had a thing for BDSM outfits.

That's when Sam started to groan, "Aw, hell. This can't be good," he commented as their situation registered.

Dean couldn't agree more, but before he could reply to his brother, he heard a door open and four sets of feet step into the room and rush towards the brothers. Roughly they were both dragged to their feet, blindfolds and arm bindings still present, and escorted out of the room.

* * *

As they were taught by their father, both brothers started to catalog everything they could about their surrounding area. They could smell ozone, and smoke, and a hint of copper, but it was all masked by some sort of false cleanliness in the air. Under their feet they felt metal flooring panels as they counted and memorized the steps and turns they took. Definitely not a Garrison ship then. They would have linoleum for sure.

In the distance they could hear what were probably the sounds of a workshop or factory, and every few moments there was a horrendous scream from somewhere off in the distance.

As if the atmosphere wasn't alarming enough, Dean also took note of how nasty his escorts smelled as both brothers were roughly shoved through a doorway. They both flinched as they heard the metal door slam shut behind them, leaving them both alone in the room.

Dean got right down to business, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I think I've been kidnapped. You?"

"Peachy, and I'm right there with ya on the whole kidnapped thing. Don't think I remember signing up for this," Dean replied and blindly started to feel his way around the room, feeling for doors, windows, or vents, assessing the dimensions and looking for any dangers. While his older brother did this, Sam backed up to the door and started to feel for the lock, trying to discern the model.

"So, any idea where we are yet?" Dean asked casually as he ran his fingers over a crack in the wall, looking for any weaknesses.

"Uh, got a few thoughts and theories. More than a few actually. I keep forgetting how many enemies we've picked up over the years," Sam joked, finally recognizing the make and model of the lock. It was not one that they could pick, so dead end there.

Loudly, Dean snorted, using the noises echo to gauge the height of the room, "Yeah, mighty impressive if I do say so myself."

Outside Dean may have been playing it super casual, keeping a cool facade in order to in turn keep a cool mind, but inside he was scrambling into a corner in fear. He wanted to keep himself calm and collected, if only to spare Sam from his despair. He was the big brother, he was supposed to be planning, plotting, and possibly scheming something together in order to get them out of this situation, but Dean was at a loss right now.

How the hell had he done this before? Sam and him had always gotten out of their scrapes in the past, no matter how ugly or hopeless. And they always came back with the stories. So how the hell did they do it?

"So…if we don't know who…do you have any theories as to getting out of here?" Sam's voice timidly echoed through the room.

Dean swallowed hard to dislodge the lump in his throat, "Uh, well. Let's start with keeping our heads?" he suggested, wincing at how stupid that sounded.

Sam didn't seem to mind so much and Dean could picture in his head Sam nodding encouragingly as if it was a great start to their escape plan. But in reality, that's exactly what Sam was doing at that moment, "Right. Good. Keep our heads. That way we can…you know…keep our heads," Sam started awkwardly then winced at his words, "Uh, so glad I forced you to take me along on this little field trip, by the way. We're getting some nice quality time together…"he trailed off as if remembering something.

Dean heard the air shift as Sam swirled around to face the general area where his brother was, "Oh my god, Dean! You would have been here with Gabriel!" Sam shouted outraged.

Dean was taken back, "What? So? You pissed 'cause him and me would have been bonding or something?"

"Dean, he just escaped the gorramn Host! You would have taken him and put him in a dangerous situation like this!?"

"I didn't!"

"You would have!"

"He isn't here, Sam!"

"He would have been!"

"Calm down, bitch. Your mascara will run!"

"You shut it, jerk. I thought you said we were going to keep calm."

"I am calm! You're the one menstruating over there."

Finally Sam gave in with a huff. He really couldn't blame Dean for anything here, he just needed to vent in some way once he had realized that Gabriel could have easily been the one here with Dean and facing unknown danger. Dean really didn't deserve the attitude or yelling, but damn if he wouldn't be yelling just as much if it were Cas in the same situation.

With a steadying breath, Sam pushed the thoughts of maybe to the back of his brain and tried to focus on their current situation. It wouldn't do for him and Dean to be at odds when they were planning their escape. So many times the crew had pondered in wonder at the magic that was the Winchester brother's escapes. They had also pondered how Sam would blindly follow Dean's orders, no matter how ridiculous, but they didn't understand.

Sam didn't just follow blindly, he was far too much of a rebel and free thinker for that. Hell, there were plenty of times that Sam had not listened to Dean. He had gone to college, hadn't he? It wasn't blind faith. The real truth of it was simple; Sam trusted Dean. The two of them had a long history of one bad situation after another, and they had formed a very special bond because of it. They relied on each other for a lot of things. Dean relied on Sam's logic and heart. Sam relied on Dean's creativity and courage.

Now they just had to put their heads together and pull another daring escape out of their asses like they usually did. Sam was about to offer up his first suggestion, when the lock clicked and the door swung open. Both brothers froze as someone moved up to stand in front of Dean.

Suddenly his blindfold was ripped off from his face and Dean was momentarily blinded by the fluorescent bulb above them. When he blinked away the bright spots in his eyes, Dean was finally able to focus on the face before him and wished that they had just left the blindfold on, because before him stood a smiling Dick Roman.

"Tah-mah-duh huun-dan." (Mother humping son of a bitch) Dean swallowed hard.

* * *

They had all gathered in the hold, dishing out everything they had left. Now with Sam and Dean gone, Bobby had stepped up to command and had quickly started to formulate a new plan. One that focused on making everyone as happy as possible. Mainly, Dean and Sam alive, and Dick Roman satisfied enough to not come knocking again.

The first part of his plan involved the crew pulling anything they had of monetary value, or just money in general, together as a peace offering/ransom. But they all had to cough up their small fortunes from the hospital winnings, much to Meg's displeasure. Gabriel had gone into Sam's room to find his stored cash, hoping that he didn't get too upset later, and Cas had perused Dean's room similarly.

They took as much as they could, but they kindly drew the line when Cas tried to put some of his drawings in, claiming that Balthazar had told him that they were good enough to sell for money.

"Do you think it's going to be enough?" Anna asked concerned as she put in as much cash as she had stored in her shuttle, as well as some of her more expensive jewelry.

Bobby quickly glanced over the haul they had collected. Surely it seemed mighty impressive to poor sods like them, but to a rich and powerful man like Dick, this might not be more than peanuts. They couldn't be sure, but Bobby wasn't about to crush their hope with his words. Instead he nodded, "It's all we got, so it'll have to do."

"And how do we know that he won't just snatch you up when you do the delivery?" Balthazar asked Gabriel who had volunteered first to bring over the ransom. Of course the middle Novak was far from pleased with this idea, even if it was to save the Winchesters.

The pilot merely shrugged, not looking over at his brother's concerned face, "Don't think that's going to happen. I walk in there unarmed, make the offer, and hopefully get our boys back."

"This guy does have his code, a twisted as it may be. He's obsessed with his reputation, and he may just see reason if offered a good enough deal. He'd be seen as a fool to pass it over for petty revenge," the preacher informed them, letting them know that there was some logic behind this ludicrous mission.

"And if he's not so pissed about the money, but more of the loss of the poison? Or maybe he's harboring some resentment at us for putting his man through our engine?" Meg reminded them harshly. If she had to give up all her money, this plan better have more hope than anchovies already on a pizza.

There was no answer to that, and it was a legitimate concern, but it wasn't about to stop Gabriel from doing what he had to, "You guys just wait for what you think is a reasonable amount of time, but if you don't hear back, I want you to take the Impala and get out of this quadrant. It's set on auto-pilot for you and will take you to the nearest uninhabited planet. If this doesn't play out right, there's no guarantee that Dick won't come looking for the rest of you."

They all nodded somberly and moved out of his way as Gabriel made his way towards the shuttle door, but he was stopped by two hands on his arm. He turned to see his brothers' faces looking back at him, fear evident in both of them.

"Gabe, please be safe and keep your head down. We don't know much about this guy and he could easily know something about you," Balthazar pleaded.

"I'll do my best," he replied warmly and then turned his attention to his youngest brother who still had his hand fisted in the pilot's sleeve, "I'll bring him back, Cassy. You two can get back to your weird staring contests in no time," he promised and squeezed his hand.

"Of course, Gabriel. But keep in mind, once your halfway home, more often than not you can make it all the way back. Don't let your legs give out just because you tire at the midpoint."

Gabriel chuckled, even though he wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he was sure that later he would understand completely. Cassy was fun like that.

"You just bring yourselves back in one piece, boy," Bobby called to him and Gabriel laughed.

"One piece might be awkward. Let's try for three."

And then he left.

* * *

Okay...next chapter I promise torture. Just had to get through all the plot first XD Monday I'll post two chapters to catch up! Sorry!


	8. Chapter 8

Notes: Okay, as apology for the days missed I'll be posting three chapters today. I'm posting this one now, and the other two later as I haven't gotten a chance to edit them yet, but they will be up!

leahelisabeth: so so silly XD

ship. me: karma is a strange mistress...

Disclaimer: Still not even sure if I own my own sanity, let alone anything else.

* * *

CHAPTER 8

Sam had been born while Dean was sleeping. The little babe had decided to arrive in the wee hours of the morning, long after John had made Dean go to bed with the promise of a new brother in the morning. Being only four years old, Dean wasn't quite sure what to make of the promise, or even why he wasn't allowed to kiss his mother goodnight before bed, he just knew that something really special was happening because his father's face was lit up in a way the Dean had never really seen before.

The next morning he awoke to a quiet house. Unsure if he still wasn't allowed to see his mother, Dean slowly made his way down the hall to his mother's room listening for any sound. Reaching the door, he nudged it open slowly and peered in.

At first, all he saw was his mother's bed where his dad was sprawled over the sheets, snoring softly. He opened the door further and saw the cradle that his father had re-painted for the new baby, but he didn't see anything in it. Mom had said that the baby would be small, but how small? Was it so small that he couldn't see it under the blankets?

This time Dean opened the door the whole way, as immediately saw his mother off in the corner of the room where the rocking chair was, a bundle in her arms. She saw him and smiled. She looked tired.

With a small jerk of her head, she gestured Dean to come over to her, and eagerly he did, coming right up to her side and trying to peer into the bundle she held in her arms.

"What is it, Mommy?" he asked, and she quickly pressed a gentle finger to her lips in a sign that Dean should lower his voice.

"It's your little brother," she whispered and she moved the blanket to show a red pudgy face.

Now, Dean had not really been old enough to understand much, so he took her words to mean; this is yours.

So Dean decided, as his mother put his little brother in his arms for the first time, that Sammy would always be his to keep.

* * *

It seems that they had found the source of the smell of ozone and copper as the two brothers were moved into a new room. They could plainly make out the various torture devices in the room, including a couple of transcar batteries with wires attached. Dean was very unhappily familiar with quite a few of the tools set out in the room, as they were once tools of his trade, and now his heart screamed at the thought of them being used on Sammy. Especially when Dean knew exactly the amount of damage each could deliver.

Roughly, both he and Sam were tied to a rack that was placed in the center of the room, back to back. The guards knew exactly what they were doing and left no wiggle room for either of them to try and break free, hell, they even cut off circulation just enough to stay painful instead of going completely numb. Dick certainly had his bondage apes well trained.

Once they were lashed up properly and his men had moved back, Dick stepped up in front of Dean, an eerily permanent leer upon his face.

"Boys! Nice to see you again. Thanks for stopping by. I just couldn't contain my joy at hearing you were back in this part of the 'verse. I really thought that we should get together for a little chat, so I had my men bring you here," he said pleasantly, his overly white teeth gleaming in the semi-lit room.

"Cut the crap, Dick. Tell me what you want so we can get out of here," Dean snarled.

Dick only smiled more, "Get out of here? Oh, but whatever do you mean? I don't plan on letting you boys out of my sigh anytime soon."

Dean's heart sank. It was a shot in the dark at best, trying to get them out of there, but luck wasn't on their side today it seemed.

* * *

Hours later both Sam and Dean were dangling by their bound wrists, their legs unable to hold them up any longer as the torture continued. It had started with little knife nicks here and there, nothing too creative or daunting, but they had upgraded since then to the batteries that Dean had spotted before.

The long wires were attached via electrodes to their bare chests, and all it took was a little turn of the knob to send shocks of electricity straight into their chests. And of course the damn thing had a fucking power gauge on it so that they could up the ante every time. However, neither Winchester had screamed yet and were holding strong, much to the frustration of Dick, and wonder of his goonies.

Sadly for them, Dick was incredibly patient and wasn't about to end it quick.

Now, no ordinary father ever wants to think of their sons in a situation that might involve torture, but John Winchester was no ordinary man. As soon as Sam and Dean were old enough to take part in Hunter missions, John had schooled his boys in how to handle torture. It was how Dean was eventually chosen to be an "interrogator" for the Hunters during the war.

So, the brothers knew the best tricks to keep it together, to forget the pain, and to never break. By some psychic mutual decision, they had chosen one of their favorite tactics of distraction: Complaining about things.

"And…did I tell you….about what Meg said _last_ week?" Dean panted out as the last shock finally ended, sweat and blood soaking his clothes.

"That…that shipboard romances com-complicate things?" Sam slurred out, the electricity making his tongue go numb.

Dean laughed hysterically for a beat, "Can- can you bel-belive her? After…after all the things we do for her? Ungrateful little _biiiii—" _Dean was cut off as another surge of electricity shot through them. They clenched their jaws to keep from crying out. The shocks themselves were a stange mix of pain and numbness. It was like getting an accidental shock from an outlet, where the muscles tense all up your arm painfully and ache with the beat of your heart but somehow you couldn't move your fingers because they were an oddly numb, only this time it was your whole body.

Sam swore that if he looked down at his chest as it heaved that he would be able to see his heart pounding against his breastbone."She…_gasp_….she just doesn't know…any-anything about love," Sam replied as if nothing had happened, cause in his mind, he was just having a talk with his brother. Not being tortured.

Dean choked out a laugh, "You mean she wasn't hugged enough as a kid?"

"You—you know what…I think?"

And the electrodes zapped again painfully making them arch their backs against the rack as much as their bindings would allow. This time Sam let out a short yell that he cut off just as quickly as it started. Dean heard it though, even through the roaring in his ears.

"What, Sam? What do you think? 'Cause….'cause I'm really interested," Dean gasped out, but Sam didn't answer right away. Panicked, Dean looked over at Sam to see his little brother falter and slowly slide down until he dangled from his wrists.

No. Dean would not let Sam fall. Desperately he turned as much as his bindings would allow to try and see Sam. As it was, all he really saw was his brother's shoulders as they slid down the rack.

"C'mon, Sammy! Don't leave me hanging here. What does that freaky brain of your think?" Dean urged and he saw Sam's drooping shoulders tense up again and his knees turn solid again beneath him.

Sam heard Dean calling, how could he not? It was the only sound in this room as far as he knew. It was the last warm thing left in the room that qas quickly getting colder and colder as more pain induced sweat soaked into his cloths making them cling to his skin and turning it clammy cold. As he pushed himself up again, responding to Dean, he felt the shivers start to wrack over his body, making his already achy body shift in a thousand unpleasant and agonizing ways. Weakly Sam replied, dutiful to his big brother, "I think she is just…projecting her own intimacy issues on everyone else."

With an impatient snap of his fingers, Dick signaled for the electrodes to be set off again and both brother's tensed up as electricity surged through them, making every nerve and fiber scream in protest and their hearts jump in their chests. This time Dean was sure that he felt his heart stop for two beats and wondered how much longer they could last with this before their hearts simply gave out.

But they still ignored the pain and Sam didn't even grunt this time.

"Course…course could be lot simpler than…that. Could be she just has grown…fond of Cas and just doesn't think…you're good enough for him," Sam joked, his laugh coming out strained and a bit on the hysterical side, and Dean echoed it until they were both giggling uncontrollably.

"Well, she may be right there," Dean said finally, gasping to catch his breath again.

Even in the midst of torture, even as he was teetering on the edge of succumbing to the agony, Sam could still read his brother in everything he said and how he said it. And right now he could practically hear the self loathing drip off of Dean with each falling blood drop, "Dean…"

"No, I mean it. Cas is….you know, pure, and I'm…" I'm not, went unspoken by Dean, but Sam heard it anyway.

"Dean, cut that out. Cas loves you. You can see it plain as day every time he stares at you for…ridiculous amounts of time. He's gone through a lot….just like—like you. Practically made for each other."

Weakly Dean shook his head in denial, "Oh? That a f-fact? You asked him if he loved me?"

Once again they felt the pulse through them, making them shake and rattle the metal rack holding them. But they still didn't scream. It was getting to the point where Dean felt like he was floating, his head no longer attached to his body and it kinda felt nice. He wondered if Cas felt like this sometimes…

"Damn it Dean….we—we knew you two were made for each other before you did. Not to mention he isn't too bad to look at. Hell, the…the very first time you met him he was naked. That's gotta…gotta count for something in your book," Sam egged playfully.

Dean smiled wearily, "Yeah, well, at least we're not as bad as…as you n' Gabe.

This time they both let out a short yelp of anguish and sudden pain when the shock came again, stronger this time.

Dean giggled, "With…with you two it was this whole…drawn out…angst fest. Neither of you willing to make…make a fucking move. I swear…it was like watching horny teenagers glancing at each other from across the room."

"So—so does me sleeping with Gabe now make you…feel better?" Sam asked seriously.

"Damn straight! You suck when you're not getting any," Dean snorted.

The electrodes went off again, and the brothers let out another yell and this time it was Dean who slumped down, nearly unconscious and pretty damn dazed. Of course Sam took note and the tables turned as the younger brother now had to keep Dean up and alive.

"Could-could say the same ab…about you! So I'm gonna do you a favor…_gasp_…when, when we get back…," Dean was still sliding down the rack, "Hey! Listen to me!...I'm going to—to hand Cas a box of condoms, and give him my blessing. And I'm going to turn him loose in your bed."

Finally Dean peeked his eyes open again, defiance in his eyes that filled Sam with relief. He had known that this would bring some fight back in Dean. His big brother was already fiercely protective of Cas and was loath to push Cas into anything he wasn't ready for. And just like Sam expected, Dean pulled back from unconsciousness to jump to Cas' defense.

"You do that….and I'll put Nair in your shampoo again," Dean whispered weakly, a sharp edge to his voice.

That's the Dean he was looking for.

And then the next wave of pain crashed over them.

* * *

More to come!


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: Part two of today! Love you guys!

Disclaimer:My monetary status has not changed in the last hour, so I'm gonna say that I also have not inherited either fandom.

* * *

CHAPTER 9

To say that he was nervous would have been an insult to his nerves that were all standing at attention as Gabriel docked the shuttle at the space station. Thanks to Castiel's mojo hunting skills, the Impala crew had been able to follow the invisible trail of whatever to this area, not even an hour away from the planet they were on.

However, there was this little part of him that wished he had more time to mentally prepare himself for stepping into the pit. He just hoped that Dick wouldn't see the sweat stains on the duffle bag handles from his amazingly clammy hands. Wouldn't do to show them how easy it was to shake him. Couldn't let them know that by keeping Sam and Dean, they could destroy 9 lives instead of just two.

Keeping this in mind, Gabriel's golden eyes turned to molten fire and he schooled his features. He may not look like much, but he had an aura of strength that he usually kept hidden. Well, in this case, there was no way he was going to put on his mask of innocence.

* * *

It was with his face set in grim determination that he walked up to the airlock to the space station, his hands and bag of money raised for the guards to see. They were just as large and dirty looking as the last time they dealt with these apes, but Gabriel showed no fear.

He didn't even flinch as they patted him down roughly, but he made sure to wink at each guard as they finished their groping. Supposedly, Gabriel should feel a bit smug that they felt it necessary to give him six guards as escort, so he took the parade in stride as they led him down the hall.

Then it hit him that he didn't even need his enhanced hearing to hear the screaming coming from the direction they were headed and his stomach bottomed out.

He chose to instead focus his ears on the clinking of his guards footsteps on the metal floor, knowing that if he listened to the screaming he would lose whatever composure he had left.

* * *

"_Dean…"_

Wearily Dean lifted his swollen face up to try and follow the whisper he swore that he heard, but there was no way that it could have been him. Frantically searching the room around him with his one un-blackened eye, Dean searched for Cas. Selfishly wishing that Cas was there and would take the pain away, but also frantically wishing that he wasn't there and was at the other end of the universe where Dick could never get his polished hands on Cas.

Not seeing his friend anywhere in his limited vision, Dean sighed in relief. It was fine if he was starting to hear things. It just meant that he was getting closer to that wonderful fantasy world of unconsciousness, or pure madness. Pain wasn't a problem in either of those. Having Cas in this horror house…now that would have been a problem.

Against his side, Dean registered the presence of Sam, even if it was just a soft brush of sleeve against him, Dean knew who it was. If only life had granted him the miracle of having both Cas _and_ Sam far away from here.

In his fantasy world, Sam would be happy and with Gabriel. His crew would all still be on the Impala, gliding around in their sweet freedom. In his fantasy world, Dean and Sam would never feel pain again. Cas would be whole.

In his fantasy world, they would all be safe.

But as another shock tore through him again, Dean was once again reminded that he was stuck in reality where he and Sam were in agony, and both of their throats were far too raw to scream anymore so they just took it, jaws slack in pure weariness.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath as he looked over what he could see of Sam's injuries. Before even the electrical shocks, there had been the obligatory starters of knifes and beatings, and under Sam's open shirt and any skin that Dean could see were bruises and cuts that dusted his entire body.

Both of them looked warped with all of the swelling and pools of dark blood under their eyes that were quickly becoming impressive shiners. Dean wasn't positive, but he thought that maybe his own nose was broken and the only comforting thought to that was that Cas could probably straighten it back to perfection if they ever got out of here.

As a wave of pain flashed through Dean he winced and clenched his jaw and gnashing his teeth together, almost chipping them. But then again, nothing would hurt as much as the guilt that swelled in his heart as he looked over Sam's injuries.

Sam being freakishly psychic in his own way seemed to notice Dean's self loathing and elbowed his big brother gently, "Hey, ugly. How you holding up?" he whispered so that no one else in the room could hear.

"Hey, I make blood look in season. Don't worry about me. I got you into this mess in the first place," Dean grunted guiltily, but it only sent a shock of anger through Sam. Ever since childhood, Dean always shouldered the blame for everything, and it pissed Sam off to no end. They were both adults now, and Sam chose this life, and chose to come on this mission.

He knew that Dean always held a strange and almost obsessive need to protect him, but Sam could not sit by and watch as Dean's torture and pain doubled simply because of Sam's presence in this situation.

Here was Sam who was trying to hold back all emotions as he went through every in and out for escape, coming up empty each time. He would have loved to fall into unconsciousness, but he wouldn't leave Dean alone, not like this and not here.

His big brother had always been there for him in the past. As children, as soldiers, and as his brother. They had been down in the trenches on cold nights so many times, and Sam could remember each and every time that he felt Dean place his blanket over Sam. He could remember each and every time that they went into battle and he could practically feel Dean's presence at his back. He could picture them now, standing shoulder to shoulder on the catwalk sharing a beer, Dean popping the cap off for him and handing it over before Dean even got his own…

No. Sam snapped himself off from the happy memories and forced himself back into reality. He had to figure a way out for them. He would get Dean out.

Sam peered over to where Dick had his hand on the battery, fingers inching towards the switch to deliver another shock, when he heard the door open and s fraction of light creeped over the room.

With a curious smile, Dick turned to see who had arrived, "Ah, you're from the Impala crew, correct?"

That's when Sam saw Gabriel step into the doorway and his heart sank.

"No, no, no….run, run," Sam's voice weakly cracked out from his torn up throat. Gabriel couldn't be here. He should be safe back on the Impala. He should be far out of reach of Dick. He should be keeping Cas safe for Dean. No.

Gabriel didn't even look at them, his golden cat eyes focused solely on Dick with an almost ferocious determination in them. Without answering Dick's question, and without invitiation, Gabriel held up the duffle bag and unzipped the top to show the contents, "Five times what you paid us for the train job," he stated simply and without further explaination.

However, Dick didn't need to have Gabriel's presence explained as he knew exactly what was desired here. Humans were so predictable, and with men such as the Winchesters, of course there would be those willing to do anything to save them. The boys may have been criminals, but wasn't everyone in some way? They also had that whole blinding hero complex thing going for them, and of course their crew would be nothing less than completely devoted and loyal.

With a smile fitting of a shark, Dick turned to face the pilot, "Yes, it's an impressive amount of money. And I suppose you wish to buy back your crew then?" With a flourish that would make a magician jealous, he turned and spread his arms wide as if presenting the Winchesters to their visitor.

"I'm afraid that they are a little damaged at this point. Are you sure that they are worth so much to you?" he asked seriously, a leering expression on his face. Like a snake he moved up to the brothers and trailed a manicured finger through the sweat and blood that had accumulated on Sam's face and then moved to wipe it off on Dean's torn shirt, glancing over to the pilot every few moments to gauge his reaction.

To his credit, Gabriel's expression remained impassive as he watched Dick trail a finger under Dean's chin as he inspected the probably broken nose and blackened eye. The mask he wore could not crack at this point unless he wanted it to completely shatter. In watching Dick's movements, Gabriel finally was able to draw his eyes over Sam, noting each and every scratch and bruise, making his own fingers twitch with the need to heal him, but he didn't move.

With a final pat to Dean's head, Dick looked over expectantly at Gabriel.

Trying his best to keep his voice from trembling as he answered, Gabriel answered a simple, "Yes," that made the monster nod understandingly, perhaps even pityingly.

"Yes, I would expect as much…but to me, they are worth more. For the amount you have in your little bag, well, it's just not a reasonable amount for the two of them. It may, however, be enough for one…." A sick grin spread even further over his face as he met Gabriel's eyes.

"Ah, so that means now you have—"

"Him," Gabriel said without meeting a beat and pointing straight at Sam. Then the pilot let a sneer cross his features at the sight of Dick's startled expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You were going to ask to choose, right? Did you want to finish?"

* * *

And one more later tonight!


	10. Chapter 10

Notes:Last one for the night, and then I'm off to bed! I am sooooo behind schedule right now. I think I'm going to spend my whole spring break catching up next week.

leahelisabeth: Don't you worry! I plan on plenty of Samguish for later stories! And he's not done for this episode yet! ;)

ship. me: If supernatural can make torture super sexy, I can make it hilarious XD

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed from this morning accept that I slept for 15 hours after my convention and I wasn't really sure what day it was.

* * *

CHAPTER 10

It took only a fraction of a second for Dick to compose himself again after the abrupt choice of the younger Winchester. Perhaps this was the "Gabe" that they were speaking of before. This time when Dick looked over at the crew member, he paid a bit more attention. Casually he took in the hawiian shirt, the short stature, unassuming look, the twinkle in his eye of someone with a secret…

"Well then, seems like you already know how to do business like this. So you've made your choice. Release the tall one," he ordered the minion closest to his left. Right away Sam was cut down from the rack and immediately slumped to the floor in a bloody and bruised heap. Nobody made a move to help him up, and Sam was barely strong enough it seemed to even hold his head up, let alone walk out of there.

So cautiously Gabriel made his way over to the younger Winchester, trying his best to bring his heart back to normal pace and helping Sam to stand up.

Still lost in his blinding panic since Gabriel had arrived, Sam didn't even register what was happening until Gabriel had already guided him to the doorway, leaving the room…leaving Dean.

"No, no , no…"

"Sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry, but it has to be this way. I promised Dean," Gabriel whispered back brokenly as they stumbled by the minions and Dick. For a brief moment, he looked back to where Dean remained chained up by his wrists. The elder Winchester might have only been holding on to the edges of consciousness, but he nodded his thanks to Gabriel for taking Sam away from this. Gabriel returned the nod.

He understood Dean completely when he had made that promise only a few hours earlier. Hell, Gabriel was a big brother too. He knew exactly the feeling that came with putting your younger siblings in danger, as he had felt it many times when it came to Cas and Balthazar. It was easy for him to promise Dean to choose Sam, not just because Sam was his lover, but because he understood.

"Dean…" Sam called out weakly.

"Shh, Sammy. Just keep walking," Gabriel coaxed, but he halted as Dick's voice suddenly broke through the room and Gabriel just knew that this was going to be bad.

"Ah, a moment, please," he called after them as he made his way over to where Dean was hanging, "It's just…the money you paid. It's too much. You should have a small refund, I think," he remarked casually as he picked up a knife from the table beside Dean.

With a quick flash of light reflecting on silver, Dick held the knife up to the side of Dean's head and sliced off the shell of his ear in one swipe, before Sam or Gabriel could even start a protest.

They both stood horrified as Dean screamed in absolute agony for the first time that night, his voice echoing off the metals walls in the room, making even the minions flinch, but not Dick.

Doing his best to not hyperventilate and keep his remaining composure, Gabriel stood straight and held Sam as best as he could while it seemed like with Dean's ear being ripped off, Sam's knees had disappeared.

Pulling a pristine white hankercheif out from his suit pocket, Dick wrapped up Dean's ear and moved over to Sam, handing it to the younger brother.

"I think that Captain Winchester would have wanted you to have this," he remarked in false pity.

To Sam's credit, he pulled his eyes up to meet that of his torturer and took the ear without breaking eye contact and tucked it close to his chest.

"Now we are ended," Dick said, and Gabriel wasted no more time in getting Sam out of there.

It might have taken him using some of his mojo to pull a protesting Sam along, but perhaps Sam's weakened condition was a blessing, because no power in this 'verse would have been strong enough to pull Sam away from Dean as his brother's screams followed all the way back to the airlock.

* * *

Dick watched as the two left the room and strolled casually over to Dean and leaned on his shoulder in a conspirital manner, putting his mouth close to Dean's bleeding head in case his hearing was impaired.

"That crew member of yours…who is he?" he asked, truly curious of the man with the golden eyes that screamed of power.

With his one functioning eye, Dean glared up at him, "Go to hell," he growled.

"I swear I know him from somewhere…Tell me, did he ever have a mustache?"

* * *

Gabriel had hoped that Sam would just fall into blissful unawareness as soon as they got back to the shuttle, but the infamous Winchester stubbornness streak could never be broken, even after hours of torture. Instead of just slumping back in the second chair, Sam chose that moment to get his second wind and went to the weapons storage unit on the shuttle, loading the guns with trembling and fumbling fingers as he prepared to go back to get Dean.

Gabriel saw this and cringed, "Sam…Sam, you can't do this. We'll get him back, but first we have to get you taken care of," he said while grasping Sam's hands under his own.

Sam glared back at him with a snarl, "Then fix me so that I can go back and get my brother," he hissed.

"No."

"What do you mean, "no". Fix me so I can save Dean!" Sam yelled through his sore throat.

Gabriel shook his head sadly, "I made a promise to Dean to do what's best for you."

"What's best for me? What's best for me is getting Dean back!"

"I know that. Which is why I'm going to heal you, but then we are going back to the Impala to load up on real weapons and get the crew together. We'll save Dean, but we can't do it alone and I won't have you killed in vain attempt," Gabriel soothed, running his hands through Sam's hair, sending out his energy tendrils to heal the edges off of the pain.

In his hands, he could feel Sam melt into the touch as the pain slowly ebbed away. With half lidded eyes, Sam looked back at Gabriel with all earlier anger dissipated. They both shared a long look.

"He's insane," Sam whispered with a sad chuckle at the end.

Gabriel snorted, "We already knew this. That's why he and Cassy make such a good pair."

"But he's really crazy…I mean…he wouldn't break. He just kept it together…"

"Neither did you, Sam."

Sam shook his head sadly, "Only because he was there. He kept me together. I—I wouldn't have made it otherwise, and now…now Dick's going to kill him."

"Shh, he's going to be just fine. Dean's strong, you know this. He's going to keep it up as long as possible. Days, if he can."

Sam's eyes sparked with fire, "Bastard's not going to get days," an dhe launched up from the floor and keyed up the power on the shuttle, taking them home as fast as the shuttle would go, and then some.

* * *

The whole crew had been pacing the catwalk as they waited for the shuttle to return. It had been a bit longer than they had planned, but the thought of running away crossed to one's mind at any point. Their minds were far too occupied with thoughts of their absent crew.

They had never felt such conflicting emotion as the moment when the shuttle finally docked. They didn't know whether to be relieved at the return of their own shuttle and not a space station, or terrified at what might or might not be coming through its doors. With bated breath they all stared at the entrance, willing it to open and for their crew to return to them.

So when the doors opened to reveal Gabriel and Sam, they just weren't sure what to feel.

Bobby was the first to move forward, "Thank God, you're safe. We thought the worst when Cas started screaming an hour ago," he jerked his thumb behind him to where a pale Castiel was being helped to his feet by Balthazar.

"Poor kid threw a hissy fit that lasted about ten minutes," and that's when Bobby took note of the absent Captain, "and I'm guessing that has something to do with why Dean ain't here," he finished, an edge to his voice.

"Jeez, Sam. You look awful," Chuck said, stating the obvious.

"I'm fine, Gabe fixed me up mostly," Sam said mildly, a hard edge in his words. Really he was just trying to make his way past everyone crowded on the catwalk so that he could start gathering up some guns.

"So…where's Dean?" Meg demanded, not ignoring the bigger issue here like everyone else. Cas seemed to agree with her question and stepped up close to Sam.

Gabriel glanced hesitantly at an impatient Sam before answering, "Dick wouldn't let him go," he said shortly

"But he's alive, right?" Anna half shrieked.

The pilot nodded, sensing that Sam was about to tear his way past the crew if they didn't finish up this Q and A soon, "For now," he said shortly, "but right now we need to grab up every gun, grenade, sharp thing, and butter knife, cause we're about to storm a space station."

It was a proud moment when absolutely no one argued and instead nodded their understanding, ready to hear more orders.

Sam looked each of them over, savoring the small moment and hoping they knew how special it was to him and Dean that they had friends with this kind of loyalty. He glanced down to his left when he felt a soft tugging at his sleeve to see Cas there with wide and searching blue eyes.

"I can fix that," he stated simply, his eyes trailing down to the white folded cloth in Sam's hands. With a jolt, Sam remembered what it was and his anger rose again. Gently he put the cloth into Cas' waiting hand.

"I trust you to take care of this," Sam said quickly before turning and moving down the catwalk, purpose in each heavy footstep. Gabriel went after him,

"Wh-what is that?" Chuck asked coming up behind Cas and peering over his shoulder while the others followed suit, all letting the apprehension fill the spaces between them as they waited for Cas' answer.

Slowly and with great care, Cas unfolded the cloth to reveal a bloody slice of skin that no one recognized at first until Cas informed them grimly, his voice like garbled gravel, "It's his ear."

They all gasped, and looks of horror and disgust passed over each face.

"Huh choo-shang tza-jiao duh tzang-huo," (Animal fucking bastard) Balthazar growled and moved up behind his little brother to make sure that he was all right. But he could plainly see the tremors running through Cas. No, he wouldn't be alright until they got Dean back.

Bobby seemed to notice the despair on the other crew members faces and stepped up to Cas, lifting the youngest Novak's face with a finger under his chin, "We're getting Dean back, you hear me?"

Meg snorted, "How? We gonna clone him or something? Don't think Dick will keep him alive until we can get a decent plan together."

Cas ignored her, "I can fix this….as long as there's a head."

* * *

Damn straight, Cas can fix it. Go save your captain in distress Cassy.


	11. Chapter 11

Notes: Woooo! Just finished up a summer job interview! Fingers crossed that I'll get it! But anyway...chapter!

leahelisabeth: I know! The ear thing always irks me! I tried to think of something else, like cutting his finger off like Kevin, but I decided to stick true to firefly for that one.

ship. me: Go team free Dean, go!

Disclaimer: Won't own anything until I get a job.

* * *

CHAPTER 11

He had lost track of time for what seemed like forever ago, and that wasn't even an exaggeration. Whatever amount of time had passed in this hell, 40 minutes or 40 years, Dean felt nothing but torment and pain.

Well, that part might have been an exaggeration. Truthfully he felt a sense of happiness and relief when he thought of those in his life. Sam had been saved by Gabriel, just like he had promised. Even if Sam never returned to get Dean out, at least he'd be happy in time, long after he got over the loss of his big brother. He would get the Impala, and he would fly it around, keeping his freedom that they had so hard won. Sam would always have a home and someone to love him. He just better not add any of that new modern crap to his baby.

But in those moments that Dean wasn't thinking about Sam or pain, he was thinking about Cas. These thoughts were far more bitter ones to think of than Sam because Dean knew that his brother would be fine eventually, but Cas didn't have such a certain fate. What would happen to him if Dean never returned? Could he handle it? Would he ever get better? Would he ever find that "profound bond" with anyone else?

Half an eternity into the torture, after feeling the satisfaction that Sam was safe, Dean went into a small space in the back of his mind where he had a whole other life set up like a stage just waiting for him to come and play on. Of course the setting was the Impala. It was his home and the only place he ever felt completely free.

The players were there too, only Meg was that person who only sent sarcastic Christmas cards once a year. Sam and Gabe were happy and not alone. Anna was herself, smiling for real. Balthazar would be sated, content to just have his family together again. Chuck would have finished a friggin' book, and Bobby would be an ever needed presence there with them constantly reminding them that they were all brats who couldn't tie their shoelaces without supervision.

But the spotlight was on Dean and Cas were they would be holed up in their nest, talking about boring things, fighting over who would do the laundry, joking about Cas' culinary incapabilities…It might be a boring play to anyone else watching, but to Dean it was the most desired script that his life could follow.

This link in his mind was dangerous in that it would be so easy to just slip away and sever himself from the painful reality, but the thought that maybe perhaps his life could somehow end up like this made him hold on. Also, it might have been his delirious mind playing tricks on him, but Dean was pretty sure that he could feel someone gripping his shoulder tight, holding him in place somehow even though his torturers had never touched him there.

Just when Dean had reached the part in his fantasy where he would take Cas fishing, he was startled back to reality by Dick's voice filtering into his aching ears.

"So tell me, Dean. Do you know the writings of Shan Yu?" he asked casually while twirling a knife in his hands.

Dean snorted to himself, he had been asked this question only an eternity ago, "Why? Are we…are we starting a book club? 'Cause…that's a real…really clever torture tactic I—I haven't tried yet."

That actually got a laugh out of Dick.

"Perhaps another time. I'm just exctited that today, I meet _you_. And you are quite a man. An extraordinary man, but these are sadly not the times for extraordinary men. Business is not war. Heroics are unseemly. They just…complicate things. This universe isn't run on heroic legends and gestures anymore. It's run on money and power, both of which you have none of because of your choices."

"I'm no hero. Just a man."

Dick looked sympathetic to this, "Well, you may be a man, but my goal is to reveal the _real_ person behind the Righteous Dean Winchester," he moved in closer to Dean, "I've heard more of your reputation since you betrayed me. I wanted to know who dared go against my wishes, and I was stunned by what I found. A man who happily tortured soldiers in the war, was now trying to posture like a hero? I think you and I are far more alike than I initially thought."

Slowly Dean raised his eyes to meet those of Dicks. For a small moment he felt the anguish as what he thought was truth rang out, but when he looked into Dick's soulless, empty eyes…he knew that it was all false. Dean knew that he was a good man now. He knew that he was loved by amazing people, and if amazing people like Cas, Bobby, and Sam could love him…well, maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm _nothing _like you," he finally said to Dick, not angrily, not desperately, but calmly, like nothing Dick could say would change this fact. It had the desired effect as Dean watched his torturers' eye twitch.

With a snap of his manicured fingers, two of his minions stepped forward holding a black box in between them. Now Dean wouldn't lie and say that he knew a damn lot about torture devices, but this one was completely foreign to him.

"Well, we'll see about that I suppose. For now, I have this special machine. Just for you," he started to pet it fondly, his overly white teeth gleaming with the leer across his face, "I think it might just…help us along so that both of us can meet the _real _you."

The minion stepped forward and held the box while Dick powered it on, producing a metallic whirring sound as it started up. Dean held his breath, not sure where this was going.

Then Dick moved forward with a device from the machine that he attached to Dean's chest. As soon as it touched skin, the thing seemed to come alive and like a metal scarab beetle, it clawed and dug it's way into his skin, burrowing beneath.

This time Dean screamed loud and long enough that even the people in the furthermost areas of the space station felt a shiver run down their spines.

* * *

Like a mini militia, the crew were all gathered in the dining area weapons spread in a giant pile all over the table where to anyone else it would look like they were serving up an arsenal for dinner. With a seasoned soldier's precision, Sam, Meg and Bobby loaded and prepped the copious amounts of guns splayed out before them. With each new weapon they picked up, they quickly went over the guidelines for the others who were eagerly absorbing the new knowledge.

Sam grabbed a large rifle and quickly held it up for the others to see before loading it, "This one, six shots, then drop it and keep moving. Takes too long to load. Each of you will have one of these for first impact as they are good for distance."

The others, Chuck, the Novaks, Anna, all nodded their understanding and waited for the next gun.

"Uh, Preacher? Isn't there something kinda specific in the bible about killing?" Chuck had asked when he realized that the Sheppard planned on coming along with them, and had already covered himself with an alarming amount of guns and the biggest rifle they had to offer.

"Oh, quite specific. But it was a mite fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps," Bobby huffed casually. Some balked at this, but it made Sam smile and he took note to tell Dean what Bobby said once they got him back.

Meg might have been dutifully setting up the rest of the weapons, she still was iffy on the whole lack f actual plan here, "So, uh, you guys know that this is suicide, right?"

"Yup," Bobby said shortly, but it held a deep amount of finality that even Meg chose to accept it.

"Grenades?" Sam asked Bobby, who nodded and pointed to a bag at the other end of the table. Seeing the gesture, Gabriel quickly scooped up the bag and brought it over to Sam who smiled at the pilot, "Ah, yes. Thank you, Gabe."

"Anything for you, Dearest. Even killing devices of doom," Gabriel swooned sweetly.

Balthazar had been running his hands over the small pistol that Sam had handed him earlier, mentally trying to convince himself that this was okay, that everything would be fine. Of course he had been in gun fights before, hell, he was even in one with the crew before as well, but for whatever reason, this one seemed far more daunting. Probably because it was a bloody space station and not some back water planet hicks.

He sighed heavily and glanced over at Cassy with a small smile, "At least we know that Dick and his apes won't be expecting us."

Castiel looked mildly confused at that, "How do you know this?"

"Well, because they aren't insane for one."

The crew chuckled nervously. Gabriel had set up a way to jam the old modeled space stations radar so that the Impala's shuttle could sneak up and give them a minor boost in the element of surprise, but they were still a far cry from having the advantage here.

But bad odds, promise of death or failure would not have kept Dean from going after anyone else on his crew, so they would not balk at this plan. Hell, he probably wouldn't even hesitate a second even if he knew for a fact that he wouldn't survive.

With a huff and another loaded gun, Bobby started to hand out weapons to each of the crew, trying to get the bandoliers to fit over Chuck's, Anna's and Gabriel's small frames. He took note of their pale and trembling features as he did so, "Y'all know about that old motto, kind of a creed among folks like us? Most of you may have heard it before: Leave no man behind."

"I remember hearing something of the like before," Gabriel said mildly.

"Well, good. Just making sure that each of you keeps that in mind when the bullets start flying. It's harder to get lost in chaos when you have a clear purpose in mind."

Purpose? Meg thought to herself. She always had purpose. It was the only reason she got out of bed in the morning. She picked up another gun from the table and tested the sight. Might as well go save Dean's ass today since she had nothing else planned for the next eternity. If she died today, at least she had a reason.

"Let's go get our damsel of a Captain back."

* * *

The crew now fully armed headed out of the dining area and towards the shuttle that would take them to the space station and Dean. All the while Sam gave out the orders and guidelines that he wanted the others to follow.

"Okay, Gabe got a good look at the layout on his way in last time, so me and him are going to lead. The rest of you I'm going to need to cover us."

They nodded and moved into the shuttle and settled in various corners while Gabriel took the helm.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam caught sight of Cas huddled near the window and staring out with such intensity that Sam wouldn't have been surprised if he could actually see the pace station an hour away from them. He was going to leave Cas alone, but then he saw how tightly Cas was holding the small mare's leg in his hand and chose to go over to him. He made a movement to go over to him, that Bobby picked up on and joined him.

Together they crouched in front of the young man and looked at him questioningly.

"What's your problem, boy?" Bobby asked gruffly, but Sam could hear the real concern in his voice.

For a moment Cas seemed at a loss for an answer, "I guess this is what they mean by "the 11th hour", right?"

Sam smirked, "Pretty much."

A bitterness passed over Cas' features, "Well, it's the 11th hour, and I am not sure if I'll be of any use. All I have is this," he waved the shotgun absently making both Sam and Bobby flinch out of the way of the barrel, "And I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with it."

"Point it and shoot," Bobby remarked dryly.

Sam however, rested a comforting hand on Cas' arm and squeezed gently, "Dean was in rough shape when we left. We'll need you then, so you just have to be ready for that, we'll handle the rest."

Cas nodded his head miserably, "I suppo-"

Then Castiel started to scream.

* * *

Dick and his minions stood over Dean who was laid out on the table in front of them. One ape shook the Captain's shoulder a few times and got no response, then he placed two sausage like fingers under his square jaw.

He nodded shortly to his boss, "Yep. He's dead."

Dick smiled.

* * *

Dude, what a terrible place to pause...


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: Okay, part I of the rescue! It got really long when I wrote it, that I had to break it up between three chapters, but it worked better this way. Also, it gave me enough time to do my homework XD

ashwingsmokefeather: lol! My many apologies XD I am really really cruel, but be at least glad that I don't update once a week! Can you imagine?!

leahelisabeth: Badass Sammy is the shiz! And he gets a lot of badassery in these final chapters.

ship. me: Lol! So sorry! I couldn't resist! XD

Disclaimer: Look at all the things I don't own!

* * *

CHAPTER 12

With a great heaving jolt, Dean's whole body leaped up from the table as the biggest shock yet launched him from the table, tricking his heart into beating again. His sea green eyes popped wide open and his lungs sucked in a frantic gasping breath.

The first thing he saw were the metal panels of the ceiling, ugly and cold compared to the familiar rust of the Impala. Then the memories came flooding back when Dick's face floated into sight.

"Captain Winchest_eeeer_?" He called to Dean in a sing song voice, "You died Captain Winchester," he said in a mock pout, as if Dean had fallen asleep at his birthday party.

Dean blinked slowly and turned his head away, not able to stand having that face in his sight anymore. He had been getting so used to waking up to see Cas' face in the last few weeks. It had started as a somewhat creepy event to wake up each morning to have Cas at the foot of his bed waiting patiently for him to wake up, but slowly Dean had just accepted it as something new that Cas brought to their relationship. Then it became a comfort to wake up each morning to wake to someone who had love in their eyes, like they had missed him for those short hours of sleep.

If he had really been dead, then death might just be a damned lot like sleep only with no dreams and you sure as hell don't wake up feeling rested. It just sucked that he had to wake up to Dick instead of Angels in heaven, or better yet, Cas in the Impala.

"Seemed like the thing to do," he grunted at his torturer.

Dick nodded sympathetically and leaned down close to Dean's bloody torn ear and patted the top of his sweaty head gently, "I'm sure you did think that, but you must think of others right now, Dean. You see, when you die, I can't hurt you anymore and I want two days at least. Minimum. I think that there are a lot of people who know the name Dean Winchester. You have grown famous since your little hospital heist." he glanced at Dean who looked startled.

"Oh, yes. I know all about your little caper. Quite impressive, I must say. Your reputation grows," he moved in even closer and whispered into Dean's ear, "What I don't really get is…why you chose _that_ hospital. I mean, there are millions of hospitals on millions of planets, and you choose the one with some of the highest ranking security? Even you aren't that stupid. There was something else there, wasn't there?"

Dean kept his eyes averted. He knew that he was too weak to hide his thoughts from Dick and shut his eyes to try and make sure that he didn't give anything away, but Dick seemed to be more intrigued than anything and smiled, sending his hot putrid breath ghosting over the wound on Dean's head, making his whole body shiver in disgust.

"I'm thinking that there was something else there. Something that made you choose that specific hospital…Maybe it had something to do with those who you and your brother spoke of so fondly during our…sessions. What were their names? Gabe? Cas?"

Dean kept his head turned away and his body as still as possible.

Dick of course took note, "Yes. Odd names, aren't they? Perhaps shortened versions of their real names?"

He waited for some sort of reaction from Dean, but got none. Not that it was particularly necessary as Dick was quite good at solving mysteries, "Well, with your growing fame among our kind, more stories have been circulating about how you crossed me. So I need to save face. People need to know what happens after that. They need to know how Dean Wichester's story finished. They need to know that my business is still running."

Dick snapped his fingers and a minion stepped forward with another big and frankly, quite terrifying looking torture device that again Dean didn't recognize. The best thing he could come up with were some kind of sick demented scissors.

As the minion stepped closer, Dean once again turned his head away. There were too many ugly things in this room and he couldn't stand to look at any of it anymore.

* * *

The crew, minus Dean, was huddled close together in a darkened shuttle. It might have been a little bit uncomfortable, but after Cas' bloodcurdling scream, they all were happy to have someone plastered to their side. It had taken about five minutes for Cas to go from complete wreck to semi-catatonic with anger as the crew continued towards the space station, now at a much faster pace as Cas' reaction urged them on with a feeling of dread.

Currently Balthazar was stroking his little brother's back as they closed in on their destination, trying his best to be a fill in until they got Dean back, praying that they got Dean back. And then Sam was on the other side of Cas, doing exactly what Dean would want; making sure that Cas had someone by his side. His thoughts may have been mostly focused on his own brother, but Sam wouldn't forget the rest of the crew. They were far too important to Dean and he would do his best in his brother's absence.

He just hoped that Dean could get back to them soon, because Cas was starting to look a little shaky and pale. There was moisture gathering in his shirt collar, staining the trenchcoat he always wore, but the stain wouldn't last too long. None of them were sure how, but that damn coat, no matter how dirty it got in their adventures, it always came back clean and without tears in it. Well, that could just be Cas being some secret master seemstress. Sam just hoped that he would be okay for now. He couldn't stand the thought of Dean getting back to a shattered again Cas.

As the old space station loomed into sight, Gabriel started doing what he was best at; being sneaky. As smooth as the top of a new peanut butter jar, he maneuvered the shuttle to the underbelly of the station, right out of view of the main widows, and latched on to the trash shoot below. An hour before he had piped out on all frequencies, even the comm. static as a precaution so that they could all remain as invisible as space trash on the radar where the jamming frequency didn't cover all. He had then completely powered down the shuttle since he had fired the thrusters one last time, trajectory set.

The most they could be noticed now was out a window by a minion, or as a glitch on their scanners. Nobody would question if this was going to work, because simply put, it had to.

Sam spared a few moments to show his gratitude to Gabe for his trickery in this. The whole plan of getting them here was like throwing a dart. Only the bulls-eye was 6,000 miles away and guessing ahead of time where the trash shoot was likely to be. So yeah, Sam was damn proud and would think up something spectacular for Gabe when they got Dean back.

Quietly the shuttle latched into place, and everyone held their breath waiting to hear alarms start blaring…only they didn't. They waited for three minutes in complete silence until Sam had enough of waiting and turned to the crew. He gave them all a quick look-over.

Meg looked incredibly excited, perhaps even hungry. Anna and Chuck looked pale but determined, ready to serve their Captain. They might not have had a lot to give to the cause, but they had cause to give all that they had.

Looking over at Bobby calmed Sam as the preacher stood steady, checking over his rifle again like a seasoned soldier, his eyes gleaming with purpose and belonging. Sam knew he could count on Bobby to keep his head.

Balthazar was in another mind set it seemed, solely focused on his own little brother, a thought that made Sam's stomach lurch. The older brother had already placed himself half in front of Cas, as if prepared to shield him from the bullets that had yet to fly. It only strengthened Sam's resolve to save Dean at all cost, to get his own big brother back the way that Dean would if their situations had been reversed.

And then there was Cas, staring daggers at the airlock door as if he could melt it under his gaze, which Sam was pretty sure wasn't in his repertoire. Pretty sure.

With a choking swallow, Sam turned his attention to Gabe who met his eyes that sparked with answering fire.

_Let's go get Dean, _they said, and Sam agreed.

* * *

Together, the crew crept their way into the station, weapons all held high and ready for the first sign of trouble. As promised, Sam and Gabriel took the lead, taking them all deeper and deeper into the ship. According to the data logs that Bobby had looked at, this model station had about 40 layers to it, and by Gabriel's description, Dean should be on the bottom layer…not too far from where they had arrived. Even now the screams could still be heard, and Sam's strained his hearing for his brother's voice, both happy and worried when he didn't recognize any of the voices.

Sam knew, however, that they were getting extremely close now. He knew this because he could feel the bile of bad memories, still far too raw bubbling to the surface. He had suffered here only hours before and it felt as if he had never left, but at the same time like it had been years. Even now he could see Dick's face looming over his, laughing and smiling…

Then Gabriel grabbed his shoulder, and Sam was brought back.

"Sam? I think we're gonna need you expertise on this next one," came Bobby's gruff whisper. They had come upon a large door that would lead them to the core of the level, where Dean was, but of course it was locked.

Steeling himself, Sam moved up to the lock panel and started to run the override sequences. Behind him the crew waited.

"So, uh, you two sure you know where you're going? I've been on ships like this before, practically home for me, and it ain't exactly a cake walk to get where you're going," Meg whined in an impatient tone.

"You going to miss a hair appointment or something, sweetheart?" Bobby snapped at her.

"I'm just saying. I seem to be smellin' a lot of "if" coming off this plan. If we can find Dean, if we can get past Dick's minions, if we don't all get captured in the end. Just wanna be sure that you guys know that Cas is starting to seem saner than the rest of us right now. At least when we all agreed to this he had the excuse that he was already crazy. We are just plain certifiable," Meg finished with a wry smile.

A couple of them chuckled awkwardly.

"We're set," Sam announced as he hovered his fingers over the panel's switch. He looked back at his crew, all eager to go and nodded, "Okay, people…If it moves, shoot it."

"Unless it's the Captain!" Castiel reminded them seriously and they all glanced at him fondly for a moment, and Sam felt almost compelled to ruffle his hair even in this stressful situation.

"Unless it's the Captain," he repeated softly and smiled at Cas before he slammed his hand down on the panel and everyone tensed up at the ready.

As soon as the doors slid open they silently rushed forward, glancing in every direction for the first sign of Dick's men. Luckily it seemed like this first hallway was empty and they stormed on, their footsteps somehow muted even on the metal flooring.

It was at the next open doorway that Sam held his hand up for all to stop and he signaled to them that there was a guard on the other side. He motioned for everyone to lean in close.

"I saw eight guards. We're going to have to do this another way if we want to have an advantage," Sam warned. He wasn't stupid and he wasn't about to send their crew, especially with their inexperienced members, to a one on one gun fight. There was too much a risk of casualties on their side. He wracked his brain for a solution, but Chuck was raising his hand timidly.

"Uh, I think I might have an idea."

* * *

"I'm so sick of all this guard duty shit," grunt number one stated in a bored tone.

The second man slapped him hard, "Shut up, man. If boss hears you then we're all gonna end up on the rack for a session or two," he hissed as his eyes darted around, almost like he expected there to be microphones or cameras watching them.

The five others seemed just as worried and started to glance around themselves, and it was the last one who's eyes set upon Gabriel as he casually strolled through the doorway, whistling like he was on his way to the market.

"Who the fuck are you!?"

Gabriel painted on a confused look, "Isn't this the BDSM convention I heard about? I was coming to sign up, check it out and get me some new leathers."

They all raised their weapons, and started to move towards the Pilot who smiled and turned tail, running back the way he came, the eight men all following suit, hitting an alarm button as they pursued the strange little intruder.

* * *

Both Dick and his minion were bent over Dean when the alarm started blaring through the station. It didn't take a genius for Dean to figure out who had caused it, and he was both pleased and well as annoyed at the realization. However, he wasn't about to say no to being rescued at this point. He could restore his manliness another time, he just had to live long enough to do so.

Through bloodied teeth, Dean smiled up at them, "Listen, guys….if you've got guests, I can come back later."

Dick and his minion exchanged peeved looks, not at all happy that their session had been interrupted. In frustration Dick slammed the hammer down on Dean's hand again, making him scream in pain.

"Shut up!" Dick growled at him.

"If you think I'm going to keep quiet while you do that, you're an idiot," Dean whined back in a breathless pant. He could feel the shards of bone in his hand with each heartbeat.

* * *

As Gabriel gave chase, all of the minions followed closely behind, their slow brains only thinking about catching up to their intruder, not at all on where the hell he was leading them.

The pilot however, knew exactly where he was going and it was the hallway leading right back to the Impala. Dashing through the doorway into the darkened trash shoot, he quickly dove off to the left as the apes followed not even ten seconds later.

For a moment they were confused by the pitch black room, not sure how to proceed, but they didn't have to wait for their puny brains to come up with an idea before Chuck triggered on the bright lights from the Impala's headlights, blinding the men, but not the crew who were prepared.

As the men stood confused, blocking their eyes from the painful burning, they could make out the sounds of an engine revving. Through teary eyes they look up to see two smaller sets of headlights as the transcar speeded off of the Impala's ramp and straight to them.

On pure animalistic instinct, they raised their weapons and started shooting at it, not seeing the boxes of explosives strapped to it. It was only two feet away from them when it exploded in a crashing and thunderous and bright shock that instantly eviscerated each of the minions.

The explosion shook the whole station, and for the first time in the last few hours, Dean was happy to feel movement, even if it hurt.

* * *

Next chapter, the rescue! Dun dun dun!


	13. Chapter 13

Notes: Ah, yes. Looks like this story will have about 15 chapters in it, with a little goody goody for y'all in the last chappie. But I am curious (and cautious), would anyone protest or even be offended if I start turning up the steam a little? Nothing too big yet, but ya know...;)

leahelisabeth: OMG! The superharlem shake was friggin' amazing! I love that cast so friggin' much!

ship. me: Cas is so totally Dean's knight in dirty trenchcoat.

ashwingsmokefeather: Thanks! And we all know that Gabe would have totally been into all that kinky stuff too ;)

Disclaimer: Waiting for the day that a bunch of feds show up at my place to sue me and then I make them read through each and every one of my disclaimers. Btw, feds...I still don't own this.

* * *

CHAPTER 13

After the shock of the explosion was gone, the Impala crew came out from their hiding places and the lights were switched back on. Quickly they gathered around Sam, waiting for the next set of orders. They could all hear the pounding feet on the metal panels as the next wave of apes charged towards them.

Sam didn't have time for a pep talk for them, so he just set an example by pulling up his gun and pulling a grenade off his belt. The others assembled at his side, weapons all raised. Not even ten seconds later, they saw the approaching shadows of the enemy through the doorway, and the Impala crew let loose their bullets, and Sam tossed the grenade into the melee, pulling the ring off with his teeth.

Without waiting for the screams to end in the hallway, Sam shouted out the next set of orders, "Okay, second team!" He chose to ignore the minion who stumbled further into the room, his back on fire.

Second team was composed of Bobby, Anna, Chuck and Castiel who answered their call by taking position around the room behind some random crates that they had moved into strategic positions. Cas looked minimally hesitant knowing that he would have to stay behind while the others went to save Dean but Gabriel had explained it all to him earlier. Dean would want Cas safe, and for Cas to keep his baby safe. Couldn't have a bunch of cronies take over the shuttle and find their way to the Impala when they brought their Captain back, so Cas was sort of content to stay and watch the ship.

Even if he knew that the real reason that Gabriel was keeping him here was because he didn't want Cas snatched up by Dick…

"Hold this position! We lose this spot, we lose it all. You're going to hold this ground! Dongma?" Sam shouted to the three, but the end of his sentence was cut off as Bobby snapped up his gun and shot twice at something right behind Sam's back.

The younger Winchester turned just in time to see one of the guards slither to the floor in a bloody heap as his kneecaps were blown out from beneath him and cracking his head sharply on a crate along the way.

"Understood," Bobby said simply and re-loaded his gun.

"Okay, then," Meg said, still in appreciative shock at the preacher's impressive shots. Without pausing another beat, she advanced down the hallway, firing a pistol at the advancing guards without flinching as bullets pepper the air around her. She was in her element here, and the spray and splatter of blood was like a summer breeze.

Sam quickly caught up to her, putting himself in the lead again with Gabriel only half a step behind him. Together they shot each new guard that popped up, with Balthazar and Meg following close behind.

* * *

Now Dick was thoroughly annoyed at all the commotion on his ship, and walked over to the comm. box in the wall, shouting into the receiver. Dean watched him move, not moving, but his eyes were alert and focused. The knowledge of his crew on board giving him renewed strength.

"Vikto, what is this? Viktor!" Dick shouted, his face for once breaking from composure. Not receiving any sort of answer, he turned to lash out orders to his minion in the room only to watch as his man arched his back and screamed, falling to the floor in a heap to reveal Dean standing behind him. The little black bug torture device was evident on the minions back.

For the first time in his existence, Dick felt true fear at the sight of the Captain. His eyes had gone from their cool green, to a molten fire emerald that sparked with fury. The blood that caked his body, and the sweat that pooled on his skin didn't make him look weak at all, instead it made him look even more ferocious. Somehow he was standing up, his posture exuding power even after hours of torture, almost as if he were possessed by some entity.

Like a foreboding tsunami of anger, Dean stepped slowly towards Dick and not even pausing when he calmly stepped over the body of the minion. Just as Dick was about to turn tail, Dean lashed out with a speed that no man in his condition could even fathom and punched Dick right in the face, knocking him to the floor and finally getting the monster's suit nice and dirty.

Dean loomed over him as he tried to get back on his feet, kicking him hard when he got halfway there, "Looks like business isn't running so much as crawling away," he goaded, getting an intense feel of satisfaction with each kick he delivered. This was as much payback for Sam as it was for Dean, and he'd be damn sure to make sure that every drop of Sam's blood spilled was repaid in full.

With a growl, Dick glanced up at Dean only to have his face crushed to the floor as Dean stepped down on his skull, just barely holding back from cracking it right under his foot. He leaned down close to Dick's head, just like the monster had done with him not too long before and whispered real low, "So, you want to meet the real me now?"

He felt the tremor run through the man beneath his foot.

* * *

As far as Gabriel could estimate, they were about 40 yards from where they had left Dean. Now that might not have sounded like much, but wars were fought in meters, sometimes only advancing as much as 10 yards in a week. They might as well be still at the Impala for all intensive purposes and their nerves and patience were wearing as thin as Bobby's hairline.

Meg was leaning out from her cover to fire at the guards when a bullet skimmed her arm, taking a big chunk of skin along with it and ruining the new shirt that she had made Balthazar buy for her.

"Ah! Seriously! You bastards!" She shouted and unleashed a huge volley of bullets upon the guards, taking out three more in a matter of seconds. She had actually liked the damn shirt. Fucking Novak actually had some good taste in clothing.

"Fall back, Meg! Go get us some more fire power or there's no way we're going to get anywhere!"

As much as Sam was grateful for her vigor, he was starting to become increasingly worried at the thought that they were not making more progress. Surely Dick would know that they were here by now and was probably having Dean be moved somewhere else, maybe even off the station. He could be losing his brother and he couldn't do anything more to help. Right now he was seriously regretting not bringing Castiel along. At least he would have been able to tell Sam if his brother was still there, if he was still alive.

Knowing there was nothing he could change, Sam leaped up from his crouched position and advanced up the corridor while Gabriel instinctively covered him with return fire. As a guard popped out from his own cover to take a shot at Sam, he simply dropped into a barrel roll, pulling two handguns from his belt as he rose, firing and nailing the grunt in the chest, effectively killing him.

Sam moved his crew up another 10 yards.

* * *

Bobby was practically bent over the crate in front of him, the corner of the wood digging deep into his gut, firing upon the next wave of advancing guards. They had been coming non-stop for the last ten minutes, and he was beginning to have some serious concerns to how much longer they could hold out.

For the briefest of moments, while he was loading up his rifle again, he looked over the kids he had with him. To their credit, they were holding it together amazingly for first time soldiers.

Anna had dutifully been brandishing the pistols that she had been given. The small tremors that shook her hands when she had first been handed the weapons were all but gone and she wasn't even flinching anymore at the loud cracks of the guns. She might have some nightmares that would need tending to after everything was said and done, but that would be taken care of at a later time.

Then there was Chuck who was half cowering behind the crate, and half war hero. It seemed that every twenty seconds he would switch between paralyzing fear and a fierce determination where he would pop his gun out from where he was hidden and take out a man or two. For sure he was suffering from some flashbacks to the incident back on that mudder's world. Another one that would need some talking to when they cleaned up shop here.

But it was Cas that Bobby was having trouble with. Not once had he come out from his spot behind the same crate as the preacher. Instead he had his back pressed against the box, the hand gun held tight in his hand as he squeezed his eyes shut, muttering something to himself. Bobby couldn't make out what he was saying under his breath, and that was starting to bug him. For all he knew Cas was spouting off some helpful hints that could get them out of this buggery.

Finally there was a pause in the shooting and Bobby peered over their box to see if he could catch a glimpse of what might be coming. He was bracing himself for a talk or something to roll through the door when instead Meg appeared.

"Preacher! Get behind me! We need more fire cover back up front!" she shouted over at him.

He looked down at the young ones wide and frightened eyes and made sure to catch each one of their eyes, "Okay, ya idjits. You are going to keep up what you're doing and you're going to keep safe. Ya got that?"

Anna and Chuck nodded, but Cas was still mumbling to himself.

Sparing only a second more, Bobby leaned down next to the youngest Novak, "That goes double for you boy. Keep Dean's heart and home safe, and be here to heal him."

Cas finally paused and opened his eyes to look up at the Sheppard, "Of course."

"Good, now all of you. Shoot, don't think."

Satisfied, Bobby jerked himself off the floor and took off down the hallway with an impatient and bloody Meg while Chuck and Anna took up his abandoned position, both of them flanking Cas' sides.

They heard more footsteps approaching in the distance and braced themselves, but it was just quiet enough for them to catch a little of what Cas' had started mumbling again.

It sounded like he was counting down.

* * *

Bobby and Meg tore down the hallway, moving closer and closer to the heavy sounds of fire.

Balthazar swore as a bullet sang past his ear, singeing the ends of his hair. His thoughts swam with thoughts of Cas and Gabriel, and praying that they could all get out of there safe. Even now he could only watch as his beloved older brother and Sam were hidden behind one of the doorframes. Both sporting gashes where a bullet had gouged out some skin. Sam in his side, and Gabriel in his thigh.

Balthazar prayed that Cassy and Gabriel would have enough mojo left for the rest of them after Dean was put back together. Because at this rate, they were all going to be sporting a swiss cheese motif before long.

* * *

More and more guards were advancing, and Chuck and Anna were starting to panic. They were not soldiers, they only had purpose fueling them, not experience or bravery. And then there was Castiel between them that they felt a strong need to protect, not just because they were fond of him, but because if he didn't come out of this, Dean stood no chance of being saved. Their Captain and Castiel might have only just gotten together, but even they could see that Dean wouldn't be able to pull through if he were to lose his heart.

Also, Cas was the best shot they had at healing Dean of whatever torture and injury that had been dealt him.

Suddenly something landed beside them, making them both jump and glance behind them at the object that had rolled into view.

A grenade.

Before either of them even had a chance to start panicking, Cas scooted calmly over to where the device had landed and picked it up like he was simply retrieving one of Meg's apples from the floor. Anna and Chuck were about to start to scream at him to put it down, feeling a little like parents whose child just picked up something dangerous, but then they heard his countdown again.

"Seven…six…five…,"he was whispering, his eyes closed. He still held his handgun in one of his clenched fists, in the other he gently cradled the grenade.

He was right in the line of fire now, but he didn't seem to really care. Instead he tossed the grenade as his count got to three, and then calmly got back behind the crate, still counting.

"three…two…one…boom," and the second he finished the grenade blew out in the hallway where they heard the answering screams.

After the calls of agony died down, they heard the next set of footsteps approaching and Chuck and Anna cringed.

But then Cas cocked the gun in his hands, eyes still closed, "Can't look. Can't see. I won't be a monster, if I can't see me…"

Then he launched up from his crouched position and fired three times.

Silence.

The silence continued enough so that both Anna and Chuck lifted their heads above the edge of the crate, and peered out at the docking bay. The three guards that had been sneaking into the hold were now all dead, bullet holes in the exact center between each of their eyes.

In horror cross with awe, they looked up at Castiel who stood calmly between them, his eyes opened again as he glanced down at them with a blank expression.

"No power in the 'verse can stop me," he whispered to them sadly.

They couldn't think of anything to say.

* * *

*gross sobbing* Oh, Cassy baby...


	14. Chapter 14

Notes: Oh man...when I started editing this chapter I saw the first sentence and was like...how the hell did I write this and not notice! May I quote from my first draft...ahem, "_Dean was still pounding on Dick when the minion approached from behind_'. Thank you. That is my fail of the day.

leahelisabeth: squee! So happy you like :D

ship. me: Oh noes! I hope things are looking up now :( Here's another chapter just for you! *huggles!*

Disclaimer: After that first sentence I'm not sure I even deserve to own this...

* * *

CHAPTER 14

Dean was still in revenge mode, solely focused on delivering blows to the downed man, no, monster in front of him. It was because of his rapt attention and hatred that he didn't notice when a grunt had appeared in the room and came up behind him.

He only took notice of the rest of the world when he felt big hands grab him from behind, jerking Dean back from Dick who was finally able to crawl to his feet as Dean grappled with the minion.

Dean could feel as the grunt tried to twist his fingers around his throat, trying to cut off his air flow again, only the Captain would have nothing of that. He had died enough times at the hands of these bastards, and he wasn't about to let them rob him of another precious minute of life that he could spend with his family.

With a loud roar, Dean threw all of his weight back, forcing both Dean and the grunt to fall backwards out of a glass window that he hadn't seen before. The sound of shattering glass deafened him for a moment, the sharp bits covering him and adding even more cuts and nicks that he didn't even feel at this point. Together they fell in a heap on the floor beneath them, the glass digging into their backs and shoulders.

The fall had given Dean the opportunity to roll away from his aggressor, but only momentarily. He only had a chance to scan his new environment. What he saw was enough to make him pause for a moment.

He was on a catwalk overlooking a giant room of what was probably some kind of factory. There were at least twenty large clear tanks all around the room that were probably a third the size if the Impala each. But it was what was in each tank that drew his attention. He would know that golden liquid anywhere.

The poison from the train.

Flashes of memories of sick children who were going to be murdered, of all those innocent lives lost because of a careless job by Dean, of a soldier frothing at the mouth and dying within seconds... they all distracted Dean just long enough that his aggressor was able to lash a length of cord around Dean's neck and start strangling him again, much to the Captain's displeasure.

"Jeez…haven't you killed me enough for one day?" Dean garbled, but the grunt just pulled tighter. Seemed like nothing was going to go easy for him today.

* * *

Call it brother's intuition, call it a gut feeling, call it a crazy random happenstance, but Sam somehow knew at that very moment that he had to get to Dean _now. _He turned his gaze to where Bobby, Balthazar, Meg and Gabriel were huddled and gave them the signal and they all braced themselves knowing that the time had come.

From each of their belts they pulled off a grenade, leaving each of them with one last one each and waited for Sam's second signal to release.

Sam glanced once more down the hallway, watching as the next horde of apes started forward, clumping as they squeezed to fit into the narrow corridor, and then Sam dropped his hand for the sign.

Five grenades flew through the air and the shockwave that followed almost sent the crew to the floor. Suddenly the mass of bodies that were coming towards them were gone, and the crew made it for that last 30 yards, coming up to the door that both Gabriel and Sam recognized with an odd mix of disgust, horror, and relief.

Raising one of his long muscular legs, Sam kicked in the door without a moment's pause to reveal the rack before them…but Dean was no longer strapped to it. In fact, the room was empty.

The four men and Meg rushed in and headed first to the broken window, dreading what they might find on the other side, but instead of seeing a puddle of Dean thousands of feet below, they saw Dean not twenty feet away wrestling with a grunt that was choking him.

Sam started to climb through the shattered window, "Dean!" but he was held back when Bobby grabbed his arm.

"Hold up, boy. This is something the Captain has to do for himself," he said seriously.

Dean heard them and gurgled out from behind the length of rope, desperately, and a little ticked off, "No! No, it's not!"

Bobby balked, "Oh," and the four men pulled out their weapons, all shooting as one and sending the grunt falling back from the impact, his body thrown over the edge of the balcony and ultimately tumbling to his demise.

Finally released from his attacker's grip, Dean gulped in air greedily, like the air itself tasted like apple pie, his face even showing some of the bliss if that were the case. And then he was surrounded on both sides by his crew.

Immedietely he searched out Sam, smiling as he saw the blatant relief on his face, and smiling even wider when he saw little to no evidence of the earlier torture that had been inflicted on him. All he could see were some new injuries, but nothing life threatening.

Sam would have said a million things right then, like how happy he was to see his brother alive, but right now he was too overwhelmed with joy that he could only laugh in pure relief as his eyes clouded with unshed tears.

Luckily Bobby and the others were there or the two brothers would have been frozen in their happy reunion and wouldn't realize that they were still in an ongoing battle, and they still had to get back to the rest of their crew.

So Gabriel grabbed Sam and hauled him from Dean's side, and Bobby grabbed Dean and gently helped the Captain up, then they were all led forward by Balthazar and Meg who kept the way back to the ship clear.

Even as bullets ripped through the air, and with chances of impending doom around each corner, and even with blood still leaking from all over his body, Dean still couldn't stop smiling as he was practically dragged back to his baby.

But as he was stepping through the broken window he caught sight of the tanks behind him in the reflection of the glass. He turned to his crew, "Wait. We need to do something first. How much time will it take to set up a remote explosion?"

* * *

Since that last grenade that Cas so kindly returned to the sender, the doorway to the trash bay had remained empty and silent. Chuck and Anna were still at their posts, never letting their eyes stray even though they were incredibly tempted.

Their gazes kept being drawn to where Castiel had settled himself on the ramp of the shuttle, not covered in any way and in plain sight. He looked a great deal calmer than he had since they had first discovered that Dean and Sam were taken. He was even responding to them now in complete and semi-coherent sentences whenever they called over to him.

It was like the closer they had gotten to Dean, the more sane Cas became.

For the tenth time that minute, Chuck glanced over at Cas who was just watching the doorway like a puppy waiting for his master to arrive home, "Uh, Cas? You, uh, have any news?" He asked timidly, like Cas was tuned in to universe radio.

He looked over for a moment and nodded, "The pieces are almost assembled. Found the last one under the table."

Chuck was about to respond, but then they heard footsteps closing in fast and he brought up his gun again.

At the first sign of shadow approaching, Chuck tensed his finger over the trigger and was mere nanoseconds away from pulling tight when he caught sight of a familiar face.

A sweaty and panting Balthazar dashed into the room, his eyes scanning the area until they fell upon Cas who had already stood up to go over and greet his brother.

"Jeez, Balthazar! I could have shot you! Cas, why didn't you warn me that I was about to shoot your brother!" Chuck gasped in horror.

Castiel turned to Chuck and gripped his shoulder sadly, "There was no need. Your gun is empty."

Of course Chuck checked to see that this was indeed true, but he didn't have time to really ponder it because just then the rest of the crew poured into the bay.

The first thing that Dean did once he entered was scan his crew up and down for injury, but when his eyes fell on Cas, he couldn't take his eyes off of him. All the pain and darkness seemed to disappear in a flash and all there was, was Cas in front of him.

And Cas seemed to feel the exact same. The both swept towards each other, never breaking eye contact and wrapped their arms around each other, and in that moment, Dean had hope again. His perfect life could continue. Feeling a warm and whole Cas, not his fantasy version, so solid in his arms was like being handed back his soul. His whole body tingled.

However, the moment could only last so long before Balthazar pried Cas away, muttering something about saving the reunion sex for when they got off the damned station, and it was only Sam's tugging on his sleeve that got Dean to release his death grip on Cas' arm.

But he didn't let go completely, instead he transferred his grip to Cas' hand and led him up the ramp, the rest of the crew following in a somewhat rushed movement.

The flight back the rest of the crew might have been looking over their shoulders, still terrified that they would be pursued, but not Cas and Dean. They were simply content, and if the rest of the crew stopped to think about it like Dean did, they would be comforted to know that Cas would give a warning if they were being followed.

The only thing that would bother Dean their ride home was that he had no idea what had happened to Dick once they had escaped. He could only pray that he learned his lesson, or died in the melee, and that they would never see his face again.

He pulled Cas closer to his side, not caring that his blood was starting to stain the coat. Cas would always fix it somehow.

Dean turned to Gabriel and gave short nod to him, and the pilot pulled out a crude looking device that looked as if it had been assembled in mere minutes, he pressed the button on the remote firmly.

Behind them, the station started to shake as its interior exploded from the inside.

* * *

Woooo! Dean's back and it only took 14 chapters! One more to go, and since I got no responses positive or negative towards more "steamy" scenes, I added a "steamy" in a few places for future chappies. Not like 'power a friggin' train' steamy, but more of a 'fog up your glasses' steamy. I'll wait till I hear back from you guys before I go turning your rooms into friggin saunas. ;)


	15. Chapter 15

Notes: Okay, so I got no negative towards steamy...so we're gonna add in some steam, but its gonna start small and then we'll slowly get more intense, just cause I gotta work myself into it. I've never written anything like it before...well, actually the Impala series is the first thing I've ever written ever, so you already know that. Well, anyway, enjoy!

leahelisabeth: Yay! I love how you always notice my references! :D And to your guess...you'll get an answer at the end of the chapter ;)

Ship. me: I'll get right on it! So happy that I can be of help! And I was totally watching Dr. horrible with my friends the day I wrote that chapter...like two days ago XD So brilliant!

*Guest*: Woohoo! So happy you like! And I shall indeed try to warm things up!

koko: I totally agree, and I will be adding soooo many more tenderness in the coming stories. And I think I'm going to turn up the steam on Sam and Gabe too...just cause it'll be fun XD

Disclaimer: *gross sobbing into a pillow making it so that when I go to sleep I am sleeping on dampness and reminded that I own nothing*

* * *

CHAPTER 15

Wasn't it just plain annoying that every time he went into the first aid kit to take something out, it was damn near impossible to get it to fit back in when he was done? Bobby sighed heavily as he gave up and just jammed the gauze roll in with force, making the antibiotic cream push up on the other end of the box. Giving up on making it pretty, he slammed shut the lid, pushing everything down instead. He didn't give a damn at this point.

Dean didn't seem to notice or care about the rough treatment of the med supplies as he was too distracted with tugging his ear gently. He just couldn't seem to stop and Cas kept impatiently batting his hands away from the side of his head, growling more loudly each time he saw Dean raise his curious fingers.

With wide questioning eyes, Dean looked over at Cas and asked for the tenth time, "Are you sure this things gonna stay on?"

Cas echoed Bobby's earlier sigh, "I was able to mend the dermal and re-establish the tissue bond just fine…Just don't…don't fiddle with it," he winced when once again Dean did just that.

The infirmary was a mess. Chuck, Cas and Anna were the only ones to escape the fight without any injury, and so it had been a mad rush for the band-aids once they were all on board and a course was set to get them as far away as possible.

Gabriel was short on mojo after healing Sam the first time around, and Cas was reserved solely for the Captain upon mutual agreement from the whole crew, minus Meg. Even so, Dean had suffered just enough that Cas wasn't able to heal up some little scratches here and there that annoyed and frustrated him to no end.

Dean couldn't care less about the little cat-scratches, but he wouldn't admit out loud that he was really enjoying the attention that Cas had been giving him. Fussing over each and every bandage to make sure that everything was clean. Dean could tell that he was exhausted though, healing taking a lot out of him. Hell, Dean was damn near ready to pass out himself.

But there were a few things that needed being done first.

"Hey, Cas? Why don't you go get something to eat. I'll catch up in a few. Then we can get some shut eye. That sound good?"

Blearily Cas looked up at him and nodded before heading to the kitchen.

Perhaps there was something he could whip together fast for him and Dean.

* * *

Slowly Dean made his way up the stairs to the catwalk. He may have been healed up, but his mind kept telling him that he had just been tortured and should take it easy. Silly mind didn't understand how awesome Cas was.

Dean smiled as he reached the top of the stairs at the sight that greeted him. He had been anticipating this.

He sauntered his way over to Sam and leaned over the rail next to him. Without words he opened one of the beers that he had been carrying and handed it to Sam before opening one for himself and they both knocked back a large sip around twin smiles.

"So we made it."

"Yup," Dean said proudly. The loss of money did nothing to dampen the fact that they were still together and in one piece. Dean tugged at his ear again to check this fact.

"Still flying then."

"Yup."

There were no words to describe the happiness that came with that realization, but it came with a bad bitter taste that left Dean thinking back to how Sam was placed in a really bad position all because of him.

Of course Sam picked up on the change of attitude and focused in on his brother, "Dean. I'm fine by the way. Better than you, actually."

Dean snorted, "Yeah, you're fine now thanks to a butt load of luck. Hell, Dick would have killed you."

"That's not important, Dean. We made it out…"

Suddenly truly frustrated Dean interrupted Sam with a harsh snap, "Your life is fucking important, Sam! That could have gone down a thousand different ways, most of them not ending with both of us standing here. I mean, doesn't that bother you?!"

He understood Dean, truly he did, but he only wanted Dean to see that Sam was an adult who made the choice to go along on that mission, "Dean…you can protect me from being hurt, or you can let me bear the wounds myself. You don't have to take on extra pain for choices that I've made."

Their eyes met after that and Sam could see his words tumble through Dean's mind. Whatever Dean decided, it made him smile softly and he took another sip of his beer, turning his gaze back out over the hold. Sam followed suit.

* * *

They finished their beers in silence before coming to a wordless agreement to head to the dining area where they walked in on Cas and Gabriel standing over the stove top, mixing something in a pot. They both glanced up at the entrance of the Winchesters.

"Hiya, guys! I just came in here for some snack and found Cassy whipping up some soup. Thought I'd help out," Gabriel welcomed them happily. He didn't have to say that what he really did was come in on Cas somehow messing up canned soup and was doing his best to make sure that no one got food poisoning.

Dean and Sam took their seats at the table to watch as their respective significant others continued to work on the impromptu meal, affection clear in both of their gazes. However, the affection turned to apprehension as Cas came forward with two bowls of steaming soup and placed them in front of the Winchester brothers.

With a flourish, Gabriel whipped out a napkin and tucked it into Sam's shirt, delivering a quick kiss to his cheek before pulling away. Likewise, Cas awkwardly draped another napkin on Dean's lap, and hesitantly kissed Dean's cheek before pulling away blushing.

Completely flustered, Dean didn't even taste the first spoonful of soup, instead he grinned over at Cas, "Mmm, Cas soup. Must've done good."

Cas smiled obligingly, "Yes. You _did well._" And Dean didn't even care that Cas was correcting his English.

Sam let out a pained groan from across the table, "Aw, man. I'm eating here. Save the schmoop for later. I've been tortured enough for today."

Dean paid him no mind.

"Oh, that's right Cas! Did Sam tell you and Gabe yet?"

Cas looked confused, and so did Gabriel and Sam.

"Tell him what," Gabriel asked, looking at Sam curiously.

"Just that Sam here has demanded that Cas and I get down and dirty," Dean informed the pilot with a smug smile.

Gabriel's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline, "Oh, really?" he asked, his voice aghast.

But Sam was suddenly panicked as he looked at Gabriel and searched the room for a protective Balthazar to appear and start pummeling him for suggesting such a thing, "What? Dean, come on. You know what I was doing, right?" he tried desperately.

But Dean was still ignoring him as he turned his exasperated expression over to Cas, "He seems to think that it would get all this…burning sexual tension out in the open, you know, make a fair display of our manly affections," he explained calmly to an equally calm and nodding Castiel.

Sam vigorously shook his head, "No! That was the torture talking. Remember? The torture?"

Dean pulled Cas from his chair so that they were facing each other and awkwardly placed on of Cas' hands on his hip, and then the other on his shoulder. Then he met Cas' eyes, "I know it's a difficult mission…but you and I…have to get it on," he informed Cas deadpan.

And of course Cas in all of his awkward perfection nodded his understanding, his face equally serious and voice just as deadpan, "I capiche. We have no choice."

They stood only a foot apart, staring at each other, absolutely nothing resembling The Sexy is happening as they start puckering their lips in an exaggerated manner.

It was the exact moment that Bobby and Balthazar walked into the dining area that Cas gave the go ahead, "Alright. Take me, Dean. Take me hard."

All eyes in the room, save Dean and Cas, bugged out of their heads.

Bobby scrunched up his face, "Now something about that is just downright unsettling. You got a damn room, go use it. This area is for eating _food. _Not face."

Balthazar didn't seem to be bothered in the least and just winked at Cas and Dean when he sauntered into the room to sit at the table.

Obviously having lost his appetite, Sam threw down the napkin from his lap and grabs Gabriel and escorts them from the room, but not before tossing Dean a quick smile, just letting his brother know that he's happy that they are all still together.

"We'll be in our bunk," he calls back into the kitchen, making all of them cringe and take mental note not to listen to hard next time they had to walk by their quarters.

As if in sync, both Dean and Cas let out a big yawn at the mention of bunks.

"Okay, you two. Go get some shut eye before you drown in your soup. We'll hold down the fort," Bobby demanded softy, pushing the two men towards the exit.

Balthazar nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes. And be sure to actually _sleep_ while you're down there," he winked at them again.

Rolling his eyes, Dean playfully slapped Cas' behind and jerked his head towards the door and they left together, calling back a quiet goodnight to the dining area's occupants.

Then Meg stepped into the room, looking for food only to see the abandoned and still steaming bowls of soup left on the table.

She grinned and placed herself in front of the first bowl, "Oh, hey! Free soup!"

Before she could lift the spoon to her lips, both Bobby and Balthazar practically ran out of the kitchen smothering grins and giggles.

Obviously Meg had no idea who made that soup.

* * *

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Gabriel practically threw himself on Sam, kissing, biting, licking, sucking on every bit of skin that he could get his mouth on. However this was somewhat difficult due to the fact that Sam had his brother's fashion sense and wore at least three layers of clothes at a time, and also that Sam wasn't already naked….

"To…much…in the way," he muttered in between nibbles of Sam's collar bone. Without words Sam started to peel away each layer, as slowly as humanly possible. Now you would think that Sam was delaying his own fun, but it was all tactics. After many wonderful, pleasurable nights with Gabe, it became apparent that his pilot would become incredibly creative the more impatient he was.

Like how Gabriel had started to unbutton Sam's shirt with his teeth while his hands drifted down to take care of some other covered zones. It wasn't until his hands "accidentally" brushed over the cloth covering Sam's growing interest that the younger Winchester's own impatience grew too much to take and he surged forward on Gabe, pressing his pilot down in the sheets and going down for a tonsil searching kiss.

And oh how Gabriel loved Sam's kisses. His man may have been the quiet, reserved and somewhat gentler brother, but once you got him undressed, he became a lustful animal, and it showed in his long, devouring kisses that were filled with power and possession.

But Gabriel was no slouch himself. He had his own sort of power in bed, like always knowing the exact place that Sam wanted to be touched. And in this case it was simple.

With the removal of Sam's pants, Gabriel was free to reach down and start long and slow strokes along his partner's length, making him gasp and growl where his mouth was nibbling along the pilot's throat.

"I thought I was done with torture today?" he whispered teasingly into Gabriel's ear.

"Mmm, I never got my turn. It's just a pity I couldn't grab one of those leather outfits from the station before it blew," Gabriel pouted, still managing to keep a conversation going while holding the perfect rhythm on Sam.

Sam chuckled, "The true loss of the day, I'm sure. But…," not about to leave Gabriel hanging, Sam quickly set in on the pilot's coveralls, "I'm not above unleashing another explosion right here, right now."

This time it was Gabriel's turn to gasp and Sam dug past the pilot's neon orange boxers, his giant hand cupping and squeezing gently with gentleness that most people his size could never have.

Gabriel let out a loud mewl that he was pretty sure reached the outside of their room, "You just better not do it by damn remote or I'm getting the whip…."

* * *

When Dean entered their room, first thing he did was strip off his shirt and take off his belt, tossing both to the floor. Since he had showered earlier, he didn't feel bad at all about just flopping down on Cas' bed and throwing his arm over his eyes.

He listened as he hear Cas' ruffling of clothes as he too took off his coat and shirt, neatly putting them into the laundry basket before toeing off his shoes with soft plunks on the floor, one for each shoe. It wasn't until Dean felt the dip of the mattress net to him that he moved his arm to look at Cas as he got settled down next to him.

It wasn't often that Dean got the pleasure of Cas in his bed, so he couldn't help it when the little burst of excitement that rushed through him when he thought about what they could get up to.

Now he might have been as tired as a kindergarten teacher on a Friday, but he couldn't help himself when it came to Cas. Rolling on his side he pushed the full length of his body up against Cas' back, burying his face into his neck and breathing in the fresh scent that reminded Dean of down pillows.

Getting a second wind out of nowhere, he found some strength to move his hands up and down Cas flank, tracing his fingers over the soft skin of his torso, and the fabric of his pants. He couldn't see Cas' face, but he could feel his answering heartbeat where Dean's chest touched his back. It was getting faster and he swore that he heard Cas start purring.

Now Dean started to feel a bit bolder and started to nibble gently at Cas' shoulders, making Cas gasp and arch.

Worried, Dean pulled back, "Sorry, man. Did that hurt?"

Cas flopped over to meet Dean's eyes and smiled, "No. You didn't hurt me. It was just…I could feel you," he said and started to rub his hands with those long elegant fingers over Dean's naked chest.

At least Dean had the decency to blush a little and delicately try to pull his hips away, "Oh, sorry about that. Guess I wasn't as tired as I thought..."

Cas chuckled softly, "Oh, I didn't mind that. Didn't mind at all...I meant something else." gently he rolled his hips into Dean's again, letting the Captain have all the evidence presented that Cas indeed did not mind. Keeping up a slow rhythm Cas continued to rub his hands over Dean's bare chest until one hand stilled over the Captain's chest, roaming stopped and Cas frowned.

"I couldn't feel you for a moment…before. I felt everything before that, I suffered where you suffered, but then all of it disappearing in an instant…that was even more painful," Cas whispered, he still hadn't moved his hand from where it lay on Dean's chest.

Gently Dean reached down and put his hand over Cas, pulling it up to his hand and kissing it gently before returning it to his heart where they could both feel the beat of life under it, "You feel this now, right? That's all that matters."

Cas nodded, and then his hands started to wander further over the spans of Dean's skin. Slowly, a torturous movement in itself, Cas moved his head forward, his lips brushing over the pulse in Dean's neck where he mumbled softly into the skin, "I want to feel more," he whispered.

Dean chuckled, sending vibrations through his body that transferred to Cas, "You have no idea how much I would like to accommodate that request, but you need to recharge, and I need some shut eye, like four hours. Then we can feel as much as we want," he said into Cas' tousled hair, kissing the top of his head.

He got no response, and he wouldn't for a while because when he glanced down, Cas' eyes were already closed and his jaw was slack. Dude had already fallen asleep. What was it with them and passing out when things got good?

Once again Dean chuckled and he wiggled himself further down the bed until Cas' head was tucked right under his jaw and wrapped his arms around him tight.

He was out in the next breath.

* * *

In the engine room, Chuck paused mid motion as he was hammering away at the panel he was working on.

In her shuttle, Anna lay on her bed staring at the canopy of sheets above her.

Neither of them could shake from what they saw Castiel do. Sweet, innocent, strange, troubled Castiel that they all knew was created for a higher purpose…but seeing him that day take down all those men literally with his eyes closed, what the hell was that higher purpose? What _was _he? They weren't about to start becoming distrustful of their dear companion and crew mate, but they were going to start being more aware, that was for sure.

No sleep would find them that night.

* * *

Dick watched from one of his shuttles as the debris from his station floated by. Bits of metal and bodies were floating through the black, taunting him. Evidence of his loss in this battle. Surely his reputation would suffer from this.

He tutted to himself softly before turning to address the last bunch of his minions from the station.

"We head out for the beta station now. We'll start to double production there to make up for the loss here. No one says a word to our sponsor or any of his men! Am I clear!?"

They all nodded and move about the shuttle to plot out the course they would take to go to the next site.

Dick approached his right hand man, lowering his voice as he got closer.

"I'm going to need a closed wave connect to our dear sponsor's _projects_. I think I have some news for them that they might appreciate, but first, find me all you can about Castiel and Gabriel Novak."

* * *

Ooooo! Plot plot plot! And little itty bits of steam. But don't y'all worry. We'll be powering trains by the time this series is done. Check out the first chapter of Impala series Part: XI Fool Me Once, posted tomorrow! Lemme know your thoughts on whatever, I'm always happy to hear 'em!


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